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| Dagenham & Redbridge 3-2 Woking: 6th January 2007 Scorers It seems that many of the Cards faithful have asked themselves why they bother recently and many seem to have decided it really isn't worth turning up anymore. On a cold, wet day in early January, today was probably no different, yet nursing a cold I still found myself loyally sitting atop of Dagenham's little stand along the side of the pitch wondering what Woking team would turn up. The answer? A very injured one. Smith, Hutchinson, Gary Mac, Shola, Berquez and Jackson all trooped into the stand before kick off and the squad included just three substitutes, goalkeeper Bittner and Sankoh and Ferguson who both had to come on to cover other injured players before the final whistle. Jalal was the familiar face guarding the sticks protected by Bunce, Ruby, new loan signing Jason Pearce, and Murray. Evans and Sam Cockerill started in central midfield with Sole and Lambu on the wings and new signing Liam Marum partnering Jamie Taylor up front. The Cards started well when Steve Evans whipped in a dangerous free kick that was flicked on in a melee of bodies and ended up ghosting past Tony Roberts and into the back of the net after just five minutes. Shane Blackett was adjudged to get the final touch on the ball to score an own goal. However, it didn't take the Daggers long to respond with Mackail-Smith and Benson causing problems all the time. Having combined to win a corner moments before, Mackail-Smith pounced gleefully on Sam Sloma's corner to equalise on 13 minutes. Jalal attempted to claim it but got lost in no mans land and the Woking defence didn't deal with it allowing it to drop kindly for the Dagenham star who wasted no time in lashing it in. Dagenham didn't take long in trying to score a second, counter-attacking straight from the kick off and Jalal had to be alert and come out and smother quickly to stop the opportunity. They almost broke clear again following a sloppy long range effort from Bunce which cannoned straight back past him having been blocked and set the Daggers away but the attack broke down through poor control. After Matt Ruby excellently stopped Mackail-Smith with a sliding tackle, the resulting corner saw Anwar Uddin head narrowly over. Ruby was injured while making the challenge and tried to carry on but had to be replaced before half time for Ferguson who moved to the left wing, while Sole slotted in at right back and Murray at centre back. On the half hour mark a corner from Sole was met by Jason Pearce and his header looped agonisingly in the air and just when it looked like it was going over, dipped below the crossbar and into the back of the net. Once again though, it didn't take long for Dagenham to reply. Benson receiving the ball in the area and turning just enough to get in a neat shot which was parried away Jalal but he only succeeded in pushing it to MacKail-Smith who converted for his second of the game. Woking had a great chance to take the lead for the third time just after the break when Marum tricked his way into the penalty area and drew the goalkeeper out before laying off to Ferguson but his effort was blocked with the goal gaping. Soon after and Mackail-Smith was causing more problems to the Cards defence and his persistence eventually saw the ball end up at the feet of Benson in the area who struck it just wide. An Evans free kick provided some catching practice for Roberts and Taylor drilled a long range attempt just wide before Jalal was on hand to tip Benson's close range effort around the post on the hour. A key moment of the game was when Marum played a neat one-two with Taylor and got away from the back line before putting his effort just wide as he tried to lift it over the on rushing Roberts. Moments later, after Jalal had tipped over a long shot from Danny Foster, Benson connected with another Sloma corner and the ball squirmed under Jalal's body and into the net to make it 3-2. The Cards did their best to mount a comeback in the last fifteen minutes but rarely troubled Roberts but for a couple of corners. Overall, the Card's performance was really worthy of a point, especially given the injury crisis, and there was a lot more passion out there today. However, just like York and Oxford the worry is that this sort of performance will not be maintained. New signing Marum looked very lively and skilful and Pearce did superbly with his goal and won a countless number of headers. However, I would give the man of the match to captain Evans who although did not have an outstanding game led a very young side very well and lead by example in midfield with lots of energy and lots of tackles. It's very clear that the talent and determination if there, we just don't see it enough. Woking (4-4-2):
Jalal; Murray, Pearce, Ruby (Ferguson 40), Bunce; Lambu, Evans, S Cockerill, Sole; Marum (Sankoh 74), Taylor.
Man of the Match: Steve Evans - see, he can play and even tackle in central midfield. Moment of the Match: Mackail-Smith's two examples of poaching goals form nowhere in the first half. Attendance: 1,389 |
