So my first match in nearly two weeks saw me over at an important Skybet League Two clash at Victoria Road as Dagenham & Redbridge hosted the might of Portsmouth. I was attending this match with my fellow co-host of the Grassroots Football Show on East London Radio Mr Adam Richardson, who many of you will know by now his affection for Pompey as his family live in that area.
We nearly didn't make it into the ground though as Adam found out that due to a technical glitch on the ticket office system we were left with no tickets, despite booking them in advance. However we managed to pay cash on the turnstile and take our seats in the main stand, panic over!!!
The teams came out to a decent reception from both sets of supporters, both knowing the importance of this game for each side. For Daggers it was must win if they harboured any hopes of retaining their football league status next season, whilst for Pompey it was a must three points if they wanted to make a late charge for the automatic positions, as well as cement their play off place further still.
The first half hour yielded very little in goalmouth action, with the only shot in anger from the visitors which flew well over Daggers goal in any case. As the game went past the half hour mark though the hosts began to get a foothold in the game and created a couple of decent chances, one a header that was brilliantly tipped wide by Pompey keeper Jones, but he was helpless to prevent the hosts taking a 34th minute lead thanks to a super overhead kick from Hemmings, which saw the Daggers lead 1-0 at the break.
Pompey's away support of almost 1,700 in a crowd of just over 3,000 was immense, and they demanded a response from their side in the second half, after their first half showing had been very below par. However they did respond and were a team transformed in the second half and after giving the hosts backline some early second half pressure, deservedly levelled just before the hour mark when Doyle volleyed home a cross from the left, sending the mass of visiting fans crazy and saw the game delayed after a flare was thrown from the away end, seeing a Daggers steward eventually quash it with a massive pile of sawdust!!!
Portsmouth were now the better side and had their tails up after that leveller and sure enough nine minutes after equalising they got their noses in front when centre half Burgess rose to head a superb effort past Cousins and cue more flares and pandemonium in the visiting section. These supporters really do love their football club and have stuck by the side through the most awful of years, so it's no surprise they celebrate like they do.
Daggers tried to find a way back into the contest as they could see their fragile hold on league football being weakened further still but were ultimately now second best against a now dominant visiting side and with five minutes left they netted a clinching third, another header from a set play, this time from a diving header from Evans before they added gloss to the scoreline three minutes later when Bennett waltzed through a tired looking defence to blast home a fourth.
Dagenham looked totally shot and this cued a mass exodus of home support, leaving the visiting fans, of which their were more in the home end around us, to celebrate a fine comeback victory in what was certainly a game Daggers fell away in badly and it looks likely that they will be playing National League football next season, now eleven points from safety with just six games to go.
As for Pompey, they now sit in sixth spot, five points off automatic promotion with a game in hand, so all to play for as they say. They should at least grab a play off spot now but will no doubt fancy promotion without all that stress, although after what they have been through over the last few years they won't care how it comes!!!
Here was the view of Dagenham & Redbridge manager John Still after his sides defeat:-
"We played very well first half and we started the second half alright. We made three massive errors.
"I don't think they won it. I actually think we lost it.
"Everything about what we were doing was fine. You've got to play with your head."
And now the view of Portsmouth manager Paul Cook:-
"I think the most important thing to speak about is the end result. It was a great performance today by the lads in general.
"We've got to keep going, we've got to keep believing in what we're doing. It's important we believe in the run we're putting together now.
"I don't think this team's character will ever be in question; the consistency, yeah.
"We're on 69 points. There's a lot of points for us to play for and, as I say, it's a benchmark for where we want to go in the future."
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