On a weekend where the Premier League, Football League and indeed the majority of European football will be coming to a standstill, the National League have announced it's business as usual for clubs in the fifth and sixth tiers, meaning that for us focus can now shift to a very important game away at Woking. The decision to resume games amidst the global Coronavirus pandemic would've stunned many given that the top four divisions in England were all suspended, yet it is important to remember that the decision is made at the discretion of each footballing entity and that there has been no official government declaration preventing or even advising against fixtures being played at this stage. That will inevitably change as the crisis escalates, but for now football in the Vanarama National League continues. Back to the football itself, the Daggers will be heading to Kingfield off the back of a bitterly disappointing defeat at home to Fylde in midweek which marked the first significantly disappointing moment in a Daryl McMahon reign that has otherwise been promising. His all-or-nothing mentality has had a refreshing impact on Dagenham supporters and, though it ultimately cost us on Tuesday, will do more harm than good for us. After equalising through Brundle, we surged forwards in search of the winner but this resulted in a 94th minute defeat. Three days earlier, away at Aldershot, we also went for it and this time snatched all three points. Of course, it's not going to work all the time but in the end we accumulated more points in those two games (3) than if we'd have settled for a point in each one (2). Over the course of an entire season you'll achieve more just through being more adventurous, not to mention the added entertainment that brings. The home game against AFC Fylde was the first in which we've been genuinely poor under McMahon, and we'll be looking to put that right this weekend. While we were suffering late heartbreak against the Coasters, Woking were also experiencing similar frustration as they were defeated 3-1 at home to Barnet in a game that broke their four game unbeaten run. Their form since the beginning of the year has been poor in the main, though, with seven defeats from the last twelve matches significantly diminishing their hopes of reaching the play-offs.
Prior to that dramatic descent in form, the Cards had been one of, if not the biggest, surprise package in the division. A 2-0 victory against ourselves on the opening weekend of the season laid the foundations for a fantastic August in which they won seven of their eight games and stormed to the top of the table, however this was directly followed by a two-month winless spell that dragged them down into a league position more reflective of their true capabilities. In many ways their unpredictable form epitomises the nature of the National League. However, they are more than capable of defeating us on Saturday and so it will take a fantastic, unified effort from the team to emerge from Surrey with all three points. We were victorious in the same county last weekend, our first win on our travels in six months, so will have the appetite to claim another triumph in our quest to remain in this division. The stage is set for an afternoon of football that is finely poised. Whatever the result, it's a day that players, staff and supporters will need to savour because, with the Coronavirus crisis and calls for the National League to follow in the footsteps of similar organisations, we may soon be starved of football for an implausibly long time.
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May 2024
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