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Dagenham & Redbridge 1 Rochdale 1 |
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Written by Administrator
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Saturday, 12 April 2008 |
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| Dagenham & Redbridge
1
Strevens 33
| Football League 2
Victoria Road Saturday 12th April 2008 | Rochdale 1 Higginbotham 28
| Dagenham picked up a crucial point this afternoon against high-flying Rochdale in a game hampered by some adverse weather conditions.
John Still changed to a 4-4-2 system recalling Nurse to the right of Midfield and leaving out the injured Smith at the back. Rochdale picked the team that would have played against Notts County in mid-week had 3 of the side not been caught on the M62!!
As the referee blew for the start of play, the heavens opened depositing ten minutes worth of hailstones which then turned to rain leaving the playing surfaced saturated and in areas, leaving standing water. Neither side could make an impression in the hail but as conditions cleared around the quarter hour mark, it was the Daggers who settled better, having the first real effort on goal from Peter Gain. That was smothered by Lee in the Dale goal but from the next attack he should have been picking the ball out of his net. Nurse fired wildly over from a long Griffiths throw when he should have hit the target. Lee was looking jittery and almost made a hash of an attempted lob from Gain. But Dale opened the scoring against the run of play from the next attack. Lee's long clearance was allowed to bounce by a hesitant Daggers back line and Higgingbotham took full advantage, smashing high past Roberts. This clearly knocked the stuffing out of Dagenham and Howe almost doubled the advantage immediately but shot straight at Roberts.
To the home sides credit, they didn’t crumble and conjured an equalizer up from nothing. It owed much to the desire of captain Uddin who won the ball in the Rochdale half under pressure before feeding Strevens. He took a touch before blasting home at Lee's near post. It should have been a great end to the half for the Daggers as Southam drove over with the goal at his mercy after Lee had flapped at a Huke cross and Nurse also put a difficult header over.
The second half had barely begun before a clash of heads between Huke and Rundle saw the Dale man substituted after a lengthy stoppage. This meant Le Fondre entered the fray and he immediately looked sharp and full of purpose. His running helped open things up for Howe who shot over and then had claims for a penalty waved away claiming a push.
Dagenham were grimly hanging on now, cheaply giving the ball away up front and generally watching play in the centre of the park, but from one breakaway where we kept the ball, Benson steered wide from a Strevens cross. It was back to Dale who had fantastic chances to settle things through Higginbotham then Dagnall, the later seeing his effort saved by Roberts when he should have scored. The Daggers got a grip from this point, perhaps Dale were happy to settle for a point. Worrying Mark Arber was knocked out cold after a collision with Roberts but the big man was able to return and help play out time. A fair score on reflection.
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