Why did it mean so much to us?

Firstly I would like to make an apology. Sorry this report is so late (I know you’re all used to it by now) but I have recently started a new job and am finding less time to write than before. And if I’m honest the spare time I have found has been spent asleep because it is taking me a while to adjust to my new routine!

So, The Johnstones Paint Trophy.

That name doesn’t tend to get the most awe inspiring reaction out of people. Quite often all you will get is a little groan and a mumbled something about it being “tinpot”. But the thing is I love all cup competitions, all of them! As many of our readers know I have a particular soft spot for the Essex Senior Cup and I have to admit I have a similar feeling for the JPT.  While it is not always the most glamorous competition and can throw up a fixture that no one of either side of the crowd segregation care about (MK Dons away anyone?) sometimes the good folks at Soccer AM pull a classic out of the bag. Last season for example; an away tie against Charlton which produced a narrow 1-0 loss, a great atmosphere and was a nice appetiser for the league match where we battled for a well-earned point at the Valley.  Also the biggest reason to get behind the JPT is; it’s a competition we have a chance of winning and to win it you have to go to Wembley! And with “big” clubs like Sheffield Wednesday bailing out in favour of the league the odds are better for another day out at Wembley for the Daggers.

So this year I was very happy to see we had been picked to face Leyton Orient away. Yes I know ANOTHER away fixture in a cup! But to be fair Leyton away is nearly as easy to get to as Daggers at home (for the more local Daggers anyway, myself included). Our preseason friendly against the O’s had been at best a non-event and at worst a reminder that were it not for one point we would have been sharing a division this season.  But a chance to dump them out of a cup certainly whetted my appetite for a little revenge for last year’s FA Cup defeat.

Wednesday 7th August – Leyton Orient - Away – Johnstones Paint Trophy

My alarm rudely awoke me from my party induced slumber and I found myself glued to my guitarist/best friends leather couch.  Sadly I would not be able to just chill out all day till it was time for football.

My aforementioned new job actually started off as a voluntary position that I had put myself forward for after doing a 2 day course with the company. My plan was to make myself as useful as possible in the two days a week I was working there that I would be missed on the remaining three. And it was obviously working as I had been begged to come in for a couple of hours that morning to help with the rush. I had said this was fine as long as they realised I was not going home the night before and would therefore be a little worse for wear. 

So I dragged myself into work (in a clean shirt lovingly dropped off for my by the missus) and completed some Action Plans for our customers. With my promise to my potential employers completed I returned to my friend’s house with some nice fresh Gregg’s baked goods and played some Xbox and chatted for a couple of hours.  MrsMetalDagger was finishing work at 5 so at about 3pm I went home, showered and changed into my Daggers shirt and waited for the clock to reach half 4.  My mother in law then gave me a lift to MrsMD’s work and we made for Rainham station.

At the station we bumped into Lee Wilson and his friend and we chatted as we waited for the train. Neither of us were particularly optimistic of a result that night as it has to be said we’re not exactly having a prolific time in front of goal. We alighted the train at Barking to change onto the Gospel Oak line, leaving Lee and Friend to go a different route via Stratford.  I decided to give this route a try this time as I had gone via Mile end before and wanted to compare the two. It turned out that Lee should have come with us as the train we had shared was not stopping at West Ham and him and his buddy found themselves on route to Fenchurch Street (DOH!).

We got off at Leyton Midland and walked down to the Coach and Horses. I think this route takes a little longer than the other but with Lee and co getting lost along the way we had no real comparison. We ducked into the mini Tesco for a sarnie then into the Horses for a pre-match drink. Our little crew which today consisted of Mikins and Gemma (Jerk was working overtime) would be meeting us in the ground so with our drinks drunk we walked the short distance to Brisbane Road.


the Daggers start to fill the North Stand

Today the Red & Blue army (in green) had been allocated the North Stand, which I have to say is a nice little stand about half the height of the Marcus James. And while it might not have the old school feel of the East stand, the view was unrestricted and it was nice to be close to the pitch and next to the home crowd, who were today in the odd looking west stand.  As I made for a spot with the noisy mob I gather with I noticed we had brought a fair few. It was nice to know that no matter the competition a chance to stuff the O’s was something many Daggers will flock to. At first glance it seemed we had nearly as many fans as the home crowd did (and it couldn’t have been far off).

The game kicked off and instantly our mob was in good voice. No, better than good voice. We were making ALL the noise and within 5 minutes I realised I was having the most fun I’d had so far in this short season.  It seemed the noise we were making was really spurring on the team; they really seemed to want the win. The home crowd were nearly silent apart from a small crowd of about 20 in the corner of the West stand nearest to us and I say "good for them!" I really did feel for them as they tried to whip up an atmosphere amongst a crowd of people sitting on their hands.  I was having so much fun singing and chanting at the home crowd I nearly forgot there was a football match happening but I was shaken back into the game when Peter Gain hit the post with a lovely strike from the edge of the “D”.


Orient slowly file into the West Stand


The unused East Stand

Despite the atmosphere we created Orient were far from just rolling over and letting us stroll away with a win. Their league campaign was off to a poor start and I think this game was not only a nice change of pace but also a chance to gain some confidence by getting a win over their smaller neighbours.  Say what you want about the O’s, they do try and get the ball down and play some passing football and it was a nice example of this that nearly rewarded them with a goal were it not for David Mooney’s shot taking a deflection before being tipped around the post for a corner by our Gooner for hire keeper James Shea. Everyone’s favourite Orient player (read; sarcasm) Dean Cox fired in a cross for Jonathan Tehoue only for him to head it neatly into Shea’s arms.

Orients keeper Lee Butcher started to show the first signs of being a little suspect between the sticks when he couldn’t hold onto Ollie Lee’s shot from outside the box and must have been grateful when it was hooked away by one of his defenders.  He must have also been grateful when Damien Scannell’s shot caught him on his heels only to zip past the far post! With the pangs of hunger setting in (after all I had only eaten a sandwich all day) I made for the food bar below the stand just before half time to try and beat the rush. I didn’t have to wait long to get me and the Missus a hotdog each before returning to my seats in time for the half time whistle. So far I have to say I was having a brilliant time and was really looking forward to the second half. I couldn’t help but feel we deserved the win for our support alone!



The second half began and the banter picked up exactly where it had left off. Both teams were well up for it and there was a feeling in the air that pride was on the line. I thought that Orient were going to open the scoring when Mooney’s flick across the box was parried by Shea into the path of Jimmy Smith who would have been dead on to shoot and score if it wasn’t for an excellent bit of defending by Femi who got his body in-between the Orient midfielder and the ball before spinning round and clearing his lines. Defending like that deserved a payoff at the other end and we got it. Scannell ran down the wing to the edge of the box his first cross was blocked but fell straight back to his feet and he whipped it in again with his left foot, the ball hit the back of Sam Williams head, rolled down his back and flew into the net off of his arse!  And the travelling Daggers including myself went ballistic! And after the screaming and cheering died down we found ourselves doing the Poznan! Yep that’s right we were celebrating a goal in the first round of the JTP like it was the FA Cup final! And what of it? It felt good! 64 minutes Orient 0 , Daggers 1!

It was very nearly 2 when Billy Bingham (who impresses me more and more each time I see him) dribbled through the O’s midfield and fired from about 25 yards out only for Butcher to spill his save over the top of himself but luckily for him it rolled out for a corner.  Then Orient caught the break they so desperately needed;  Porter chased after the long ball and ran it to the goal line then crossed it low past Shea and into the path of Mooney who’s hard work all game was finally rewarded with an easy tap in from 5 yards. 88 minutes in, it was now 1-1 and all of a sudden the West Stand woke up and the 20 hardcore fans around their drum were finally joined by their Orient brethren. 



A part of me really resented this sudden bolt of enthusiasm, it wasn’t as if Orient had been playing badly but it had taken a goal for 90% of their support to actually give a toss. If we were to lose this game on penalties (and a shoot-out was looking a dead cert with only 2 minutes plus injury left) I would have felt pretty crappy to have them rub our faces in another cup loss in a game that only 3 minutes ago they started to walk out from!

The final whistle blew and it was time for the inevitable penalty shootout. Now I know this has been a long report so far and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for sticking with me till this point but I want to tell you a quick story.  As a child I loved the penalty shootout, for me it was the height of adrenaline in football and this feeling was at its peak during Euro 96. When England beat Spain on penalties in the quarter finals it was the greatest football rush ever and I was convinced that with Seaman in goal there wasn’t a shootout we couldn’t win. So when we faced Germany in the Semi’s there was this part of me that really wanted it to go the distance to penalties as I was convinced it would secure us a place in the final. Well as we all know I was wrong, very wrong! And it hammered home a very healthy respect and fear of the shootout that I hold to this day.



So needless to say I was very nervous about this shootout, but I could feel that childhood adrenaline building. What was to follow was the longest shootout I have witness both live and I’m pretty sure on the telly too! It went thus;

Phil Walsh - Scores,
Charlie Daniels – Scores.  1-1

Richard Rose – Scores,
Dean Cox (to a chorus of boos and a “W*nker W*nker!” chant) – Scores. 2-2

Ollie Lee – Scores,
Ben Chorley – Scores. 3-3

Damien Scannell – Scores,
David Mooney – Scores. 4-4

Now it was sudden death!

Sam Williams – (even though I thought he’d put it over!) Scores,
Leon McSweeney – Scores. 5-5

Scotty Doe – Scores (and gives the Orient fans a nice “Shhhhhh!”),
Marc Laird – Scores. 6-6

Dom Greene (making his returning debut as a Dagger) – Scores,
Terrell Forbes – Scores. 7-7

Peter Gain – Scores,
Jimmy Smith – Scores.8-8

Billy Bingham – Scores,
Lee Butcher (their goalie) – Scores. 9-9

Femi (our crowd let out an audible “gulp!” #FemiFacts) – Scores,
George Porter – Scores. 10-10

James Shea (I’ll admit to being nervous before this one) – Scores,
Moses Odubajo – Scores. 11-11

Phil Walsh (with an absolute belter) – Scores,
Charlie Daniels – Scores. 12-12

Richard Rose - Scores,
Dean Cox (in spite of more taunting) – Scores. 13-13

Ollie Lee – Scores,
Ben Chorley – Saved by Shea!!! 14-13

And after 15 minutes of penalties the Daggers had done it, we had dumped Orient out of the cup. The players celebrated on the pitch as me and a horde of my fellow daggers ran down from the stands to the edge of the pitch to rub the home supporters face in the dirt and celebrate our win with another Poznan! We exchanged high-fives with the players and gave them a round of applause before doing a Conga back down the tunnel.  I met back up with my little group and us and the rest of the travelling Daggers marched en-masse to Leyton station singing all the way. Then the smaller groups split off in their separate ways and the mob I was in on the District line sang all the way home! What a thoroughly enjoyable night! Oh and I forgot to mention;  the weekend before this match the draw for the second round had declared that the winner of this match would get a home tie against Southend! Bring it on!

In conclusion of this essay of a report I would like to mention a thread I saw on the Orient forum, it was questioning why we celebrated the win so much. And one of the O’s on there wrote; “Because they really, honest-to-god hate us and think we have an actual rivalry. Clowns.” 
To me this stinks of “it isn’t a rivalry because we don’t care if they beat us” well that is bollocks. Local bragging rights are the very foundation of a football rivalry (or one of at least) every time I pass an Orient fan in the street we both know what happened that night and we both know that for now the bragging rights sit with us. And that my bitter Orient friends is why we celebrate so much when we beat you. Because we love our team!

I went to bed that night a very happy and tired man with zero voice left.  And the next morning I was woken by my manager offering me a fully paid job at the firm I had been volunteering with! All in all I had an amazing 24 hours!!



We love you Dagenham, we do! Oh Dagenham we love you!

FMD

Next – Have we ever won at Rotherham?

Daggers 4 Orient 3???!

Sorry this report is late, but as many of you know I am also a musician and have been doing a lot of work to get the pre-production for our new cd done. We're looking to get our new songs demo'd before Christmas, so that has kept me quite preoccupied.
But now we have to cast our minds back to the rollercoaster of emotions that was Dagenham & Redbridge away to Leyton Orient in the FA Cup replay.

Tuesday 16th November - Leyton Orient - Fa Cup 1st Round Replay (away)
words by FullMetalDagger

So since waking up I had sat indoors playing FIFA and getting increasingly excited/nervous. Jerk' called sometime during the afternoon and told me that his friend had come to visit the country and had brought some very strong exotic alcohol with him and that I should head to his gaff to join them. So knowing money was tight I decided to start the night early, I put my Daggers shirt on and set off. After a few drinks at Jerk's, MrsMetalDagger phoned and told me she was nearly back from work. I left Jerk' at his after a rum tea and made for home. I met the missus at home and once she had changed and we'd both had a cuppa it was time to head for the tube. We waited for Jerk' at Upney who arrived shortly after on the bus and we jumped on a train which we took to Barking before jumping on the c2c to West Ham. Next it was the Jubilee line to Stratford then just 1 stop on the Central line to Leyton. All in all the journey was unproblematic and passed quite nicely. We walked from the station to meet some friends outside the Coach and Horses pub then made for "the Matchroom Stadium" or Brisbane Road to most people.


From the outside the ground looked fairly standard but it was another club where you find the passage which houses the turnstiles a wee bit claustrophobic. Now inside the smell of hot food was filling my nose and making me hungry so I grabbed an official Orient Cheese burger which I loaded with burger sauce and promptly scoffed. My Nutshell review of said Burger; not bad, more than edible, not as good as ours. I grabbed some napkins which were adorned with the Orient crest and headed for the stands.


"you've got flats on every corner and a shitty balcony, ballllconeeeyyyyyy  ballllconeyyyyyy!"

Today we were located in the southern end of the east stand. Straight away I saw that the Red & Blue Army had come out in force and the blocks we had been assigned were already near full. We climbed to up the stairs of the old stand and parked up with our normal noisy crowd. Brisbane road is quite an odd little stadium, and it certainly has an odd look with the west stand having all the offices and boxes rising way up above the single tier of seats. Not to mention the four high-rise flats that adorn each corner. The three home stands started to slowly fill as we kept ourselves warm by making a nice amount of noise.

Sadly the match didn’t start very well, 2 minutes in when a Charlie Daniels free kick was turned into the net by Scott McGleish. But the dagger pushed on and had some chances of their own. The problem was for every Dagenham chance that went begging, Orient would also come close, it wasn't a good day for either teams defence as both 'keepers were called in to keep their retrospective teams in the game. Despite the score line the atmosphere in the away end was alive and well, despite the much referenced apathy towards cup ties these days me and all around me we're enjoying the night for the FA cup derby day it was. But as the clock ticked over to 23 minutes we were finding it hard to keep spirits up. Alex Revell received a through ball and ended up one on one with Lewington who backed off a little which opened up a gap which revel happily slotted the ball into. 2-0 to Orient. This wasn't looking like our day! The Daggers then started to mount a comeback and Bas Savage nearly scored but the whistle went and the teams went back into the dressing room with the score 2-0.


the Red & Blue Army in the west stand

Now the second half is a little bit of a blur to me. I remember us scoring but it being disallowed for a reason that is still unknown to me. I remember us singing our hearts out as we willed the Daggers on to victory as the Orient crowd sat on their hands despite winning a local derby. the next thing I remember was us scoring again, it was possibly Vincelot with a header, but either way it went in and over the line but the referee or the linesman (the lino who was the subject of much moaning) said it was cleared off of the line (bollocks was it!) then a minute later the ref was blowing his whistle and pointing towards the spot, he had awarded us a penalty for an apparent hand ball (I don’t know if there was one, maybe he was just paying us back for disallowing what seemed to me 2 perfectly good goals)



Danny Green stepped up and put it away nicely, 2-1 at 67 minutes! The singing got louder, the boys on the pitch had given us a goal for our efforts and they looked to get another and Solomon Taiwo delivered with a nice strike into the bottom left. The Red & Blue army went into raptures!! We couldn't believe it, now it looked like we could win this or at least take it to extra time. And for 10 minutes we rocked Brisbane road. But in a way typical of stories of this season the delight was robbed from us and given to the apathetic killjoys in the home stands. McGleish got onto a Dean Cox corner and headed it in to make it 3-2. Bugger! The Daggers did carry on trying to get back into it, but we had already scored 4 goals (albeit 2 not given) and finding number 5 was going to be a big ask.

Full time went and the lads came over and clapped the fans, despite a pretty poor first half we had seen the fight we ask for from the Daggers and at full time there was an air of sympathy for the lads. If anything we felt a little robbed. Once outside our little troop ducked into the Coach and Horses for a pint before heading up to the station for a tube home.




Despite the result it was another night when the fans did the club proud, it was great to sing louder than the home fans for the whole match and I can’t wait to get down to Brisbane Road in February .

And I managed to get myself some new toilet paper!



Up the Daggers!!



FxMxDNext - Oldham and all the things that happened when they came to town.

Orient, Beer and a Damn Good Sandwich!

So the night before the replay, I’ve decided to write up the first match. Sorry for the spoiler there.

Saturday 6th November - Leyton Orient - Fa Cup 1st Round (home)

Now I can’t actually remember what I did between waking up and leaving the front door, which is probably why I should have written this sooner! But I imagine I had a cup of tea as well as the normal early morning bathroom routine that males like myself go through, you know what I mean, a mixture of foul noises, foul smells and bad breath.

So with Daggers shirt on and a nice knew pair of combats (yes, the same combats MrsMetalDagger bought for me when I was watching us play MK dons!) We left to make our way to The Bell, which the landlord had most graciously agreed to open a bit early so we could really get our drinking on before this local derby cup tie. We got on the bus outside ripple cemetery and it whisked us towards Rainham. We got off at Tesco's so I could line my stomach with half of a (very tasty) Tesco own brand Chicken and bacon club sandwich. Which has become my pre pub sandwich of choice. So the Tesco "Chicken & Bacon Club Sandwich" has the FMD seal of approval. And if you are like me and appreciate a good sarnie why not become a fan of it here



So we walked from Tesco to The Bell, munching our T.C.B.C.S, at the pub drinking very much started and we watched spurs getting a bit of a pasting on the telly. The mood in our group was a very tentative one; having beaten the O's last time they came to our gaff the idea of them being able to get a measure of revenge against us wasn't very appealing. Our form had dipped a little since the last meeting and we were coming fresh off of being hammered into the very well kept pitch at St Marys. But on the other hand, if we knocked them out it would be very sweet.

More alcohol was consumed and much merriment was had, but time and team wait for no man so to the bus top we went! The short bus ride from the Bell to Vicky road is just long enough to get ourselves ready with a bit of singing but not so long the driver gets sick of the loud drunks at the back of the bus!

We got off the bus and made our way to the turnstiles, a big turnout was expected and the Bury road turnstiles had been opened to ease getting everyone onto the terraces. Making our way into the ground, I could see already it was pretty packed; we made a beeline for the middle of the sieve and parked up with the familiar smell of fried onions and burgers floating from over my shoulder. A minute later Nikos and Gem showed up and it was time for kickoff. Just as the game started I noticed that there was a group of maybe four Orient fans right next to me in colours and everything. So when a chant of  “ORIENT, WANK WANK WANK, ORIENT, WANK WANK WANK!" went up I was amused by their disapproving faces. If you don’t want to hear our banter, go in your own end, simple!


With the match underway the atmosphere was good, much singing was done and I think the fun attitude from the Southampton game had come back with us. Today the sieve wanted to sing.  Looking at the pitch there had been some changes since we last saw our beloved Daggers Abu Ogogo was back from injury as was "The Biggest Willie in the League" Will Antwi, Johnny Nurse was being given a go up front, Chris Lewington was back inbetween the sticks covering for the Injured Robbo and Liverpool loanee Victor Palsson made his debut.

Lewington was called into action almost immediately when Alex Revell had a shot from the edge of the box which Lewo kept out. Orient came out of the traps looking for a win and Revell had a couple of good shots. Taiwo nearly put us in the brown stuff when his errant back pass had to be cleared out by Lewington, my nerves were starting to shake a little, But slowly Dagenham warmed up, Vincelot had a header saved (Orient are sick of those going in I think) and Danny Green floated in a free kick from the edge of the box that Bas Savage nearly managed to head into goal only for it to flash wide of the far post. A little later a lovely bit of holding plus a well placed high ball from Savage set McCrory free, whose shot skimmed the crossbar as it went over.



Although a scrappy game both sides had had some pretty close chances and bar a couple of hairy moments I was quite happy with 0-0 as it approached half time. So when a deflected ball found Revell in the box, which he deftly put through Lewington's legs to score, 1-0 on 45 minutes! I have to admit my heart sank a little. What didn't help was the Orient fans next to me started cheering and jumping up and down!

Well it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that football is a passionate sport and acting like that in the home end might rub people up the wrong way, and it did. I saw some shirt Pulling, incoherent shouting and people stated pointing for them to be (quite rightly) ejected for being in the wrong end. But then something happened, we were given a free kick within seconds of the restart, everyone stopped looking at the interlopers and instead looked at Danny Green who was now standing over the ball in front of the left corner of the Orient box. He ran in and kicked the ball which curled onto the post hit the goal keeper and went in! 1-1 at 45 (+2) minutes!! And the sieve went nuts!! But in the middle a large circle had formed around the misplaced Orient fans as everyone in the vicinity pointed and screamed "who are ya! Who are ya!" right in their faces. Well this didn’t sit well With one or two of the O's scouting party, who started to kick off a little bit and I’m pretty sure I caught a swing from someone, because I had a sore chin for the rest of the game. The police came in and removed 2 people and we sung them our goodbyes. Left in the sieve was one lone young Orient fan dressed head to toe in O's colours and very much sticking out. It's safe to say I didn’t envy him!

Somewhere in all of that action the half time whistle blew and now we were feeling slightly more confident and the small incident in the sieve had fired us up somewhat. It has to be said, I was enjoying myself!
The teams came out and got in position for the second half, with the whistle blown both teams picked up where they had started off. O's keeper Lee Butcher made a fine save when a ball flicked on by Savage was met By Romains toe. Alex Revell carried on leading the Orient charge as he fired just wide and then got passed a slipping Arber to put in a low ball which Dean Cox couldn't convert into the certain goal it looked to be when somehow Lewo saved it with his foot. The atmosphere was still buzzing in the Sieve and songs were flowing freely as we willed the team onto victory and we thought it had worked when Romain Vincelot tried reproduce his awesome goal against Burton last season firing from twenty yards out only for it to fly over the cross bar by about an inch! Revell again had a chance to finish the game off in the 89th minute when a corner flew over the box too his feet for him to shoot it straight at the post for it then to be cleared away. Before we knew it the Ref blew the final whistle and it was official, 90 minutes wasn't enough to decide this epic battle! So another 90 minutes at Brisbane road is the desert of our football feast!



So all in all not too bad a result and although our away form at the time had me worried about the replay, our result against Yeovil last Saturday (sorry more spoilers) has given me (and many in the Red and Blue army) a little injection of confidence. And with an away tie against non-league Droylsden our prize, it would be great to finish the job at the housing estate Orient call home.




COME ON YOU DAGGERS!!!!!!

FxMxD

Next - Jerk tells us why he and I have to shave off our beards, its Yeovil away!

Singing we've got 3 points, haven't you?!

This Saturday I was allowed a nice lay-in and a slow comfortable awakening by the footballing gods. And it was while I was in this early morning haze, hugging the pillow like a child in his mother’s lap that I suddenly remembered...

..."IT'S SATURDAY!!! AND WE HAVE ORIENT AT HOME"!

Saturday 4th September - Leyton Orient - Home

So I jumped (well my unfit approximation of "jumped") out of bed and headed downstairs for a cuppa with the taste of the fried breakfast sarnie I was gonna have already on my tongue. Bounding into the kitchen to my horror I saw there was no bread! "No bread?!? On a Saturday?!?! The day after the shopping is done?!?!" then I checked the fridge "No bacon either!!! This shall not do!" It turns out that the bread had been given to a grandparent in need and the bacon had been forgotten when shopping. But I was determined and MrsMetalDagger came to the rescue by making some scrambled eggs which I fired up some sausages (with chilli sauce on the side) with for a pretty decent on the fly brekkie.

Sitting down with my eggs and a cuppa I switched on Soccer AM, and to my delight saw a the face of Mark Arber (with the superimposed mouth!) explaining that I was indeed correct that his celebration after scoring against Tranmere was a tribute to wrestling legend, "the Dirtiest Player in the Game" Ric Flair! (WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!).

Once Soccer AM finished I put on my Daggers home shirt (Now looking a little worn!) and we set of to catch the rail replacement from Upney Station. As We got closer to Viccy Road I realised I was quite nervous about today’s tie, Although we had shown promise in most of our games, we were yet to win and after dropping 2 points to Tranmere, I feared going up against an O's team that had seen a couple of wins already!

We got into the ground and headed for the ticket office to pick up everyone’s tickets for the day from the brand new and shiny window at the side. With ticket in hand we headed into the clubhouse with Gemma to meet Nikos who was waiting inside sitting down at a table with familiar faces and a pint. We watched the MK dons vs Hartlepools game on the big screen, Nikos had MK down to win on his accumulator so was watching the game with much interest. We chatted amongst ourselves until the game all nervous and fearing the best we could do today was a point, but none the less happy for what was going to be a derby day game in front of a packed house.

Orient fill the away end

So with a belly full of beer we headed to the turnstiles and I got to use my season ticket for the first time and in my half cut state managed to embarrass myself by not being able to tear the ticket out of the book and having to hand it to the woman in the booth to do. Once inside the first thing I noticed was how full the Marcus James stand was, from one end to another it was full with O's ready for the game! The second thing I noticed was how full the sieve was already! So with heads down we weaved through the mass of people until we found a space near the middle to stand.

Daggers pack out the Sieve

It's times like Saturday when you look around at over 4000 people in our little ground, you wonder how we'd squeeze in another 2000 to reach our stated capacity. The teams came out to much applause and the game got underway. Straight away the Daggers contingent were in good voice as we cheered the boys and it seemed very back and forth at first but with the Daggers pushing forward with each attack. We didn't have to wait long to wait for something to cheer as Danny Green slipped past his man, darted forward and flew in a cross which was met by the diving head of Romain Vincelot for an 8th minute goal! And for only the third time this season I found myself dancing in the arms of my fellow fans! 1-0 to the Daggers!

Orient weren't out yet and I was thankful when Robbo took the sting out of Matthew Spring's half volley and collected safely then a little later Stephen Dawson broke through the Daggers backline and I thought he was going to score until Ogogo took one for the team with a last minute tackle which he came out a little worse for wear from! But the dagger continued to attack with Gavin Tomlin ending a lovely bit of work with a shot into the side netting and Vincelot nearly scoring a near-copy of last season’s goal against Burton!

With the home crowd singing away the half time whistle went, and then something I didn't expect to happen, happened. Out stepped Digger the dog and seven cheerleaders stepped out and started to dance to some random "boom tss boom tss boom tss" music. Straight away I wished this was the day I was in that furry suit! After the show I headed for a much needed pee, on the way back Digger was doing his rounds so I called him over, shook his hand and told him he was "a lucky bastard!"

Digger with the girls!

Back in my spot on the terrace the teams came out for the second half (with Will Antwi on for the injured Ogogo). The Orient fans hadn't been as loud as I had expected them to be with such a large away crowd (Morecambe spring to mind as one crowd who made more noise with less) but I think this was down to how the game was panning out, as when they decided to make some noise they had the potential to be quite loud. Sadly for the Orient fans our French phenom wasn't about to give them something to sing about as 5 minutes into the second half Danny Green whipped in a corner which was headed back across goal by Arber was guided by the Frenchman’s head into the Orient net! 2-0!


a terrace of happy Daggers!

As soon as we had stopped celebrating I think the whole home crowd remembered the last home game and the dropped points, So when the daggers dropped back as the O’s attacked the mood in the Sieve became noticeably tense as the mumbles and grumbles of a worried crowd filled the air. And after a decidedly wobbly period of worry the daggers settled back into a comfortable attacking pace and we nearly jumped out of our skins when Josh Scott hit the post with a lovely strike. But we also collectively shat bricks when Scott Doe misjudged a header back to goal which Robbo thankfully tipped away from goal! Finally the whistle blew and a cheer went up as we were safe in the knowledge that today all the points on offer were safely in Dagenham and Redbridge's account.

After clapping the team off of the pitch me and Nikos headed for the shop to get some cash out and the girls headed for the club bar. As we headed back to the ground for the post-match drinks we spotted Mark Arber driving down Victoria Road so as he stopped ready to pull out I called out to him "Hey Mark, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" and did the Ric Flair walk, He looked over, smiled and with a "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" back at us, pulled off down the road. Just as Me and Nick were discussing that moments like that were one of the many things that make this club of ours special, Robbo drove past us with his head out of the window yelling "COME ON THE DAGGERS!!" at us, and with a "RRRRROBBO ROBBO ROBBO!" we waved him goodbye grinning like idiots.

Once back in the clubhouse we found a pint each waiting for us and sat down to toast the Daggers first win. Then the TV on the wall showed us some very welcome information

We're out of the relegation zone, so time for another beer and another toast. Just as Nick was at the bar John Still walked in ,so knowing he is a very approachable man (who last time I bumped in to him after the Tranmere game asked how my day as Digger was) I took the chance to shake his hand and congratulating him on the win. After a couple more drinks and chinwags with our friends around the clubhouse we headed home stopping at the chippy on the way home for some kebaby goodness.

What an awesome day! After staying up to watch the Footy League show I fell into a warm, drunk and very happy sleep

COME ON YOU DAGGERS!!!

FxMxD

Sadly I am too skint to make the trip to Bournemouth so I’ll be biting my nails listening to it on the Daggers Player!

Next - Ballmouth on the radio :(