With the season now all but over (as if it wasn't a few weeks back), the Upminster Daggers take a quick look
back on what has been an historic season. .
AUGUST
With the Upminster Daggers on the cricket fields of Essex, the Daggers kick off the season with a hard-fought 1-0 win away at Forest Green. Anwar Uddin scored the only goal for the under strength visitors.
A midweek game with "Giants" Oxford was the first chance for the boys to see their side in action, but despite dominating they fell to a 1-0 defeat in front of 2,000 at Victoria Road.
With the Upminster Daggers again missing in cricket action, the side showed a sign of things to come, as two goals from "Big" Cliff helped the boys to a 4-0 victory over Tamworth, and they followed this up with a well earned 1-1 draw at Aldershot.
Bank Holiday Monday bought another big crowd to the Vic and they saw a 2-0 victory over struggling Cambridge.
SEPTEMBER
With the cricket season still lingering on, it was fortunate that the Daggers were in action on the first Sunday of the month, due to England playing on the Saturday. And the visit to Altrincham was well worth the effort as the Daggers moved into 3rd place in the table with their second consecutive 5-0 win at Moss Lane.
A strange goal from Anwar Uddin, on the last day of the cricket season, helped D and R to a 2-2 draw at local rivals Woking, before two consecutive 2-1 home wins, against Crawley and Morecambe (with the Upminster Daggers now fully in attendance) pushed the Essex Pub side into second place.
A midweek trip North to Halifax proved fruitless though, where despite a second half fight back, the Essex high fliers were deservedly beaten 3-1.
However, with a number of the Upminster Daggers on holiday, the side bounced straight back with a 4-1 win over Garry Hill's Weymouth. Former Dagger Ashley Vickers limping off with an injury part of the way through the game.
The last game of the month came at local rivals Gravesend. It was at this game, well in the pub before actually, where the idea of the Upminster Daggers website first came up. Maybe this was playing on the players minds as they played their part in a hard fought, but uneventful 0-0 draw . Paul Bruce had the best chance for the visitors late on.
OCTOBER
The Upminster Daggers flag made it's first trip North, and made it's TV debut, for a Tuesday night clash at Stafford Rangers. In another tense encounter Paul Benson netted again to give the Essex side a 2-1 victory .
Paul Benson scored his 9th and 10th of the season as the Daggers crushed struggling Northwich 5-0 at Victoria Road, before some more outstanding attacking play gave them a 4-2 midweek home win over St Albans City .
Mid October bought a tough trip to in form Stevenage Borough, but goals, one an outstanding volley, from Sam Sloma gave the Daggers another 3 points in front of a large away following.
The following week though, with the Upminster Daggers as Matchball sponsors, Kidderminster Harriers outplayed the second placed team to win 3-1 .
The top two sides in the Conference met at D and R for the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup. Another large crowd saw a game of two penalties. Rob Duffy converted for Oxford, Glen Southam missing for Dagenham late on as they crashed out of the Cup at the first hurdle.
NOVEMBER
The Upminster Daggers began the month with a trip by minibus to Rushden and Diamonds. With 13 members present in a large away following, they helped to push the Daggers on to a stunning 3-2 victory , CMS netting twice as his rich vein of form began.
Two days later and it was a case of welcoming back a number of old friends to Victoria Road as the Conference high-fliers knocked Billericay out of the Essex Senior Cup with a 2-1 victory .
After a weekend off due to the FA Cup, the Daggers romped past fellow high-fliers Burton Albion with a 3-0 win . Paul Benson netted his thirteenth of the season, and with Oxford losing for the first time at Gravesend, Dagenham were only 2 points behind the leaders.
They underlined their title credentials the following week on a crazy afternoon in Yorkshire. With the Upminster Daggers delayed by train problems, the game was delayed for an hour to let us turn up in time!?!?!?!? Or so it appeared!!!! Despite the problems the visitors came from behind to win 3-2 . CMS continued his amazing run of form with two goals. The day was only just getting interesting for the Upminster Daggers though. With some clown losing the train tickets, we all had to pay another £45 each for a 5 hour journey back to London!!!!
DECEMBER
With Christmas coming the Daggers appeared to be slipping slightly. A 0-0 draw with bottom of the pile Southport was followed by a 3-2 defeat at Exeter, with more train problems blighting our journey. In between this a weakened side also departed from the Essex Senior Cup with a 2-1 defeat at Wakering. We enjoyed the burgers though!!!
However, Oxford could not win a raffle in December and so no ground was lost and despite a 0-0 draw with local chavs Grays, a 1-0 win over Halifax (in a game played in dreadful conditions), finally pushed the Essex side to the top of the table. JANUARY
Three days later and a 0-0 draw at Crawley, who D and R had knocked out of the Trophy earlier in the month, was enough to keep us top of the table as Oxford slipped up yet again at Exeter.
On another wet afternoon, a series of errors by highly rated keeper Jalal helped the league leaders to a 3-2 win over old rivals Woking.
A week later disaster struck. Browns left the Upminster Daggers flag on a train between Birmingham and Redditch and it was never to be seen again!!! The Daggers also lost 3-2 at Conference North strugglers Redditch and were out of the FA Trophy.
The Upminster Daggers weekend tour to Blackpool saw 12 members make the trip. It's a good job they all went as well or the away following of 48 would have been 36!!!! Paul Benson's second half equaliser saw the Daggers gain a vital point from a game played in gale force conditions (it was even worse on Blackpool front!!). With Grays holding Oxford at Chav HQ the Daggers lead at the top was maintained.
The leaders then extended their advantage the following Tuesday with a 1-0 win at Chav Athletic. Nearly 600 travelling fans saw Tony Roberts pull off a string off fine saves to help keep the Daggers bandwagon moving forward.
The following Saturday saw the league leaders stretch their lead to 9 points with a 4-1 demolition of Exeter City. Paul Benson score the first Daggers hat trick for years as the home side tore apart the Grecians. However, the day ended in mystery as Shane Blackett and CMS were both awarded the Man of the Match awards which indicated their transfers to Peterborough United may be about to take place.
FEBRUARY
The month started badly. With Blackett and CMS departed Chris Moore returned to the club and "Stan" Boardman joined from Rochdale. Despite this, Rushden, winners at Oxford in the previous week, put in a hard working performance and deserved their 2-1 win . Oxford's long run without a win continue though as they were held by Aldershot, meaning the Daggers lead was cut by just a point to seven.
The following week the leaders returned to winning ways with a 2-0 win at Burton Albion. Sam Sloma scored two spectacular goals to all but put an end to Nigel Clough's hopes of seeing his team get back in the title race.
A midweek trip to in form Kidderminster looked a tough trip for the Daggers game in hand, but while the Upminster Daggers tucked into the excellent food on offer at Aggborough, Paul Benson's amazing form continued on the pitch. Benson scored twice, including what many will say was one of the best goals they have ever seen , as the lead at the top was stretched to 10 points. Ben Strevens also netted his first for the club in an impressive performance .
With the Upminster Daggers 27 strong in the Match Sponsors area, Billy McEwan probably wished he hadn't referred to the league leaders as a "pub side" earlier in the season!!!! Not only were those words thrown back at him was his side lost 2-1 thanks to two headers from "Stan" Boardman, but he didn't seem to like the stick he took either!!! With two months of the season to go, Dagenham couldn't throw away a 10 point lead could they?!?!?!
MARCH
Just two Upminster Daggers were present as the lead was kept at a good distance with a 4-1 win at lowly Southport. Four different players found the net.
Three days later a battling Stafford Rangers claimed a late equaliser to force a 1-1 draw at Victoria Road, and with Oxford winning at Southport the lead was cut to 8.
However, the following Saturday, with the Daggers not playing, Oxford lost at home to Forest Green and lost their chance to close the gap.
The following Tuesday the Daggers squeezed out a 2-1 win at struggling St Albans, and with Oxford losing at home again, this time to Kidderminster, the Daggers lead was 11 points, and they had a game in hand.
The rush of March fixtures continued the following weekend as the Daggers were held at home by in form Forest Green and Oxford won at Altrincham.
But it was the following week where the title was all but one. On a freezing night, in front of a large and expectant crowd, D and R rode their luck in the first half before late goals from Strevens and Rainford put them 12 points ahead at the top. Oxford were held the following evening at Halifax and with the "Giants" only having 7 games to go and the leaders 8, the title looked all but over.
And so to March 26th 2007, and at the time, the biggest day in Dagenham and Redbridge's history. Amazingly for a game of this magnitude, some of the Upminster Daggers had poor excuses for non attendance. We shall not shame them on here!!!! Over 700 Daggers fans were present in a crowd of nearly 7,000, the highest regular season league crowd the club had ever played in front of. The game was played before in a great atmosphere, and Paul Benson gave the league leaders a half time lead which was well deserved. However, in the second half a fine strike from Yemi Odubade put the home side level before a major blunder, from the normally reliable Tony Roberts, allowed Odubade to lob into an empty net from 40 yards. With the league leaders on the ropes the home side tried to kill the game off but the Daggers held on for dear life. And then in the 90th minute they were rewarded when substitute Sam Sloma slotted home from 10 yards to give the Daggers a 2-2 draw . It was a goal which sent the travelling support mad as they realised it may well be the goal that all but confirmed their place in the Football League.
The Daggers showed no sign of letting up the following Saturday. Although not at their best they were to strong and organised for Tamworth and Dave Rainford and Ben Streves scored to set up a 2-0 win . The Upminster Daggers celebrated in the right way by entertaining the train home with a wide variety of songs!!!! With Oxford being held at home by Nigel Clough's Burton Albion, the maths were simple. A win for Dagenham next Saturday against Aldershot and the title would be sealed.
APRIL
And so to 7th April 2007. Dagenham and Redbridge v Aldershot. Even many old friends of the Upminster Daggers crawled out of the woodwork and found their way to Victoria Road for this one. In front of a crowd of over 4,000 the Daggers knew a win would give them the title, no matter what happened anywhere else. They got the ideal start when Paul Benson headed them in front early on. Half time news of Oxford struggling at Northwich did little to ease the tension but halfway through the second half Ben Strevens was bought down in the box and Dave Rainford's resulting spot kick looked to have earned the Daggers that coveted league spot . However, minutes later Aldershot got one back and they proceeded to dominate the closing stages. Oxford were by now losing at Northwich so in many ways the result didn't matter. However, when the final whistle finally went it was an outpouring of joy from most sides of the stadium. The glory boys of once a season streamed on to the pitch, but nothing could ruin the day. Back in the Yeoman it was champagne and cigars for the Upminster Daggers as everyone celebrated the day they thought they would never see!!!!!
Easter Monday saw the Upminster Daggers celebrate in style as they travelled to Cambridge in their luxury limo. Their was a real party atmosphere before and during the game and whatever the result, the travelling fans were determined to enjoy the party. Paul Benson took his season's tally to 28 within the first 11 minutes with two strikes, but after that the hangovers appeared to kick in on and off the pitch as Cambridge took over and went on to win 4-2 . It didn't ruin the party though!!!!
The following Wednesday the Daggers were on their travels again to Northwich. Only two Upminster Daggers made the trip in a hardy following of about 120. Northwich players and fans showed their admiration to the Daggers before and after the game with a guard of honour at kick off, and an ovation from the terraces at the end. However, it was Vic themselves who took the points with an impressive 2-0 win.
Back at home for the first time since claiming the title, a somewhat smaller crowd than the previous week saw the champions bounce back to form with a 4-1 win against struggling Altrincham. Amazingly with 4 goals being scored Paul Benson did not find the net, although 4 different players did, including Jamie Taylor on his first start for the club.
And then it was on to Weymouth for the final away game of the season. A large travelling contingent made the journey to the South Coast for the weekend. The Weymouth fans and players were again very generous in their congratulations to the Champions. However, on the pitch they took the game to the visitors and led after 11 minutes. However, they were reduced to ten men midway through the first half and were left clinging on for the rest of the game. They nearly picked up the 3 points before Ben Strevens levelled with just a minute to play . At the end ex Dagger Ashley Vickers was given a standing ovation by the travelling fans, and he then led the party in town that evening, where the Upminster Daggers and Halfway Line boys joined them.
And so to the last day of the season. Another big crowd will be there to see Anwar lift the League Trophy, and whatever the result, the part will continue over the weekend, and for weeks to come!!!! |
