There have been few places more miserable to visit in recent years than Halifax, with our visits to the MBI Shay Stadium being marred with instances of severe misfortune, from our 2016 FA Cup exit to last year's infuriating last-gasp postponement. As the Daggers return for an away game which seems synonymous with anger and frustration, Peter Taylor will not only be looking to end our bad luck in West Yorkshire, but indeed his own this season.
An incident during Tuesday's trip to Aldershot Town epitomised Dagenham's season so far with such perfection and accuracy. Trailing 2-1 deep into injury time having reignited hope through Kandi's emphatic volley, the Daggers broke forward for what was their last chance, and as an onrushing Lamar Reynolds clipped the ball past the advancing Mannion in the hosts' goal, most in the ground thought he'd salvaged a dramatic point. That was until the linesman ruled the seemingly legitimate goal out. Through a combination of refereeing mistakes and sloppy errors, Dagenham were consigned to 23rd place following on from three similarly irksome results. Even before kick-off at the EBB Stadium in midweek, they should've been sitting on seven points which would've lifted them to the lofty heights of the play-off positions. However, such are the tight margins in football and especially at this level, that they instead only had a solitary point to show for their efforts and were already embroiled in a challenge. The opening game of the season saw a narrow reverse to Boreham Wood, where Daggers paid the price from switching off from a corner which wasn't properly cleared, but in truth failed to offer enough themselves. They made up for this with a dominant and fluid display at home to Maidstone yet somehow this also culminated in a loss after two moments of indecision. The first point duly arrived at home to Maidenhead but once again was overshadowed by the disappointment of it not being all three. However, despite a very unspectacular start, I think I echo the thoughts of all Daggers fans when I express my sheer pride and appreciation for this team. These are a group of kids of whom most only have a handful of competitive appearances, and so far they've performed with admirable maturity, apart from some moments of naivety which is to be expected. If we keep performing as we have, then soon we'll have the results to match. A rebuild of this magnitude was always going to take time. This weekend they will come up against another stern test, with Halifax guaranteed to provide a physical battle all over the pitch. Even without the imposing figure of Tom Denton, who left the Shaymen after many years this summer, they have players who can hurt us such as tricky winger Matty Kosylo and his attacking partner Dayle Southwell, who has two goals from four matches so far. In every area, Halifax will be dangerous and under Jamie Fullarton are certainly capable of defying expectations. They sit fourth in the table after as many games and only moneybags Salford City prevented them from carrying a 100% record into this weekend's clash. It's certainly no disgrace losing to a team of that calibre but before then they had beaten Braintree Town, Barrow AFC and Maidstone United all without conceding a single goal. The defeat to Salford could either kill their momentum or galvanise the team; hopefully for our boys it's the former. As far as the Daggers are concerned, there may well be more changes for this clash. Peter Taylor experimented with two different formations against Aldershot, switching from an initial 5-3-2 to a more attacking 4-3-3 which showed he's not afraid to make tactical changes even if it means abandoning his system. We could also see a debut for new signing Noel Leighton, with the 19 year-old forward signing following his release from Millwall. He joins fellow new recruits Tomi Adeloye and Alex McQueen in joining the Daggers and both have settled in quickly. Despite being largely ineffective in midweek, the duo were instrumental as we came from behind to draw with Maidenhead last weekend. Hopefully they replicate that performance and help us overcome a tricky outfit. Much like Adeloye last week, Taylor probably won't throw Leighton straight into the starting XI and may well persevere with the side that finished the game on Tuesday. However, our manager may also want to combat Halifax's physical presence by playing the imposing Adeloye, who will be looking to hold the ball up and bring others into the game. This is just one of the dilemmas Taylor now faces, especially with the return of Ben Goodliffe and his fellow defender Luke Pennell, who made his first start against the Shots. As for what formation we'll opt for is unclear, given that three at the back wasn't as successful. That said, it will take time to fully work and so he may stick with it. Alex Davey has been poor recently so may drop to his bench with the return of the aforementioned Goodliffe. The absence of Gavin Hoyte was widely questioned on Tuesday but personally I feel he could do a job as a right-sided centre-back, much like England with Kyle Walker. The most probable outcome, though, is that Taylor will name a side resembling something like this: Justham, Gordon, Goodliffe, Wright, McQueen, Reynolds, Robinson, Donovan, Kandi, Adeloye, Romain. Daggers are yet to win at the Shay in their 25-year history, losing five and drawing two of our seven competitive meetings. However, with all the disappointing things to occur in the last year, from the threat of losing our club to seeing our assets ruthlessly dismantled, isn't it time we put records like that to bed? Hopefully we put in a display to make the fans proud, and finally get a reward for our recent good displays. But, above all else, hopefully our pre-match drinks aren't interrupted at 2pm by a broad Yorkshireman informing us that the game is off.
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January 2024
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