What a load of Cobblers!

Let’s face it, September wasn’t the kindest month to the Daggers. A string of sub-par performances had left the mood in the Daggers camp decidedly grim with one shining beacon of hope being that thrilling shootout at Orient. Words like “Conference” and “Kettering” were being muttered and grumbled around the sieve.

Our away Performances at Hereford and Rotherham while troubling did not really hit home as the start of a genuine wobble because we had 2 home games coming up. The first of which was against our old conference rivals “The Pox” of Oxford United! So after work a trip to The Bell was called for and after the couple of mandatory pints with Ant and Jerk’ we jumped on the 103 to face our fate.

Tuesday 13th September – Oxford United - Home

And let’s be honest this match didn’t go that well. The whole time it felt like we should have been getting something out of it and the chants of “we won the league at the Kassam!” were at best, bittersweet! The first half saw both teams battling to get an edge. We started a bit slowly but picked up soon and Nurse nearly headed home Femi’s cross for it to bounce the wrong side of the post. Nurse’s time on international duty at Barbados seemed to have done him some good because he had another chance but slammed it into the side netting.

Oxford’s James Constable should have put the visitors ahead when he skied Asa Hall’s cross over the bar. Looking around me most of us had our hands up; we knew we just got lucky! A mixture of luck and some superb keeping from Lewington kept us in the game for so long before the luck ran out. United’s low free kick was picked up by Hall who shot through our defence past Lewington and into the net. 1-0 to Oxford. And sadly that was the way it stayed. Despite Femi having a go at lobbing the keeper from outside the box and a few attempts from corners the Daggers lack of firepower was again our undoing and we were lucky not to go two down after Alfie Potter walked all to easily through our backline before missing his open goal in favour of the bar.

That result left a definite sour taste in most mouths and a lot of expletives. I ain’t gonna go into the whole twitter affair but to say it was symptomatic of the bad mood and infighting occurring in the Red and Blue Army. I for one was a little worried, it seemed my little family club was falling apart at the seams and negativity was threatening to tear us apart. The next fixture didn’t exactly fill me with confidence either. Rotherham had already claimed their revenge and Morecambe’s run (which saw them strutting their stuff at the top of the table) looked set to let the ghost of our Play-off glory well and truly come back to haunt us.

Saturday 17th September - Morecambe - Home

The away stand didn’t exactly look as impressive as it had on that glorious day when we finally “pulled a Merge” but that’s ok because neither the game nor the score line were really impressive either. This was a game (and I know we say/hear this a lot) that we really should have won. But The Shrimps were really up for this one and our confidence was low.


Daggers peer into the rain

Today our downfall wasn’t so much a lack of goals scored but the softness of the goals conceded and it was the second half when the first Morecambe goal finally came. The first half had been a fairly scrappy affair with the best chances coming from Morecambe. I actually missed their first goal going in, I can’t remember what I was looking at but I missed it. Watching the highlights it seems the long ball landed at Danny Carlton’s feet, beating Arber before he slotted into the far corner past Lewington. The second goal I did see and it was all too easy for the Shrimps when Lewington palmed away Laurence Wilson’s tight angle shot from the left. The ball fell to Drummond who kicked it into the right hand corner before Lewo’ could get back into position. Now I think Lewington has stepped up to be the main goalie very well but I can’t help but feel this wasn’t one of his better moments. Saying that, I’m sure he’ll learn from it and the way he buried his head in his shirt tells me; he doesn’t want to let one in like that for a long time! By now the mood in the sieve matched the pouring rain that hammered the roof above our heads. The only real lift was a superb free kick from Olly Lee which he buried in the goal. The daggers looked to have a chance to snatch a point from this match but with our next best effort cleared off the line it all felt a little bit too late. Everything that day (including our spirit) was dampened.

With both home and away form not being particularly up too much, I have to admit I wasn’t going to go to the Northampton match. Instead I was going to meet up with my musician buddies with a view to starting a new project that shall tear the London metal/punk scene a new one!

So much to Mr ‘FromTheCoach’s dismay I declined my spot in the car for that Saturday. Until Friday night, when my guitarist and long-time partner in crime messaged me to say he had caught some kind of flu/cold/bug thing and therefore we had to call the jam off. So I did the only thing I had left to do, I rang Jerk and reclaimed my seat; Northampton here I come!!

Saturday 24th September – Northampton - Away

It’s amazing; no matter the result I always enjoy an away day. So no matter what I thought the outcome of the match would be (and for the record I thought we had a good chance of winning) I jumped into the car looking forward to another day out with the Daggers. Northampton have a nice little ground, we were allocated the South stand and we had a nice little group of us. It goes to show; even when morale is low we can get ourselves to an away day to support the boys!

The first ten minutes of this game we looked really good. The next 20 minutes we looked amazingly poor and it was in that spell we conceded our first goal of the day when a Cobblers corner just couldn’t be cleared and the ball finally sat at the feet of Arron Davies who’s shot hit the underside of the bar and went in and three (until that moment silent) stands erupted with cheers. 1-0 to Northampton. From this point till half time it was quite painful viewing, or at least that’s how it sticks in my mind, I do remember Lewington making a fantastic save however!

The second half the Daggers really came out fighting and tried to make their chances count but almost inevitably the Cobblers got a second; Mark Arber’s backpass left Lewo’ under pressure to “get rid” and his clearance landed straight at a Northampton players feet. They past it around as the Daggers desperately tried to regather their shape before a cross met the sizable head of Adebayo Akinfenwa who nutted it home. Bollocks 2-0! Once again the silent stands erupted and once again grumbles of discontent swelled around me. In this game in total we managed to get 18 corners for ourselves but none of them yielded a goal (not for want of trying though! Arber nearly scored but for the bar). Our consolation goal came when Olly Lee smacked home a Johnny Nurse cross for his second goal of the season, both of which sadly couldn’t save us any points.

The Away-Day Daggers

So once again it was a lack of goals that lost us that match. As I walked out someone came up to me and said “don’t clap them!” “Pardon?” I said, not hearing properly the first time “don’t clap them, not after that!”. While entitled to his opinion this was not an opinion I shared. We didn’t just roll over and die and for most of the game we had played really well. Peter Gain had worked his arse off and nearly scored, Williams nearly scored from Lee’s free kick and that’s just the ones I can remember now. Sadly Northampton have a natural hard worker and goal scorer in Akinfenwa and (for me at least) not taking anything away from the rest of the Northampton squad, Bayo’ was the real difference maker and he tipped it for them.

So with no points to speak for we got back in the car and before I had a chance to reflect on the match just gone I crashed out on the shoulder of the missus. I woke up about half hour later with a banging headache and a blocked nose. “YAY!” I had caught my mate’s cold. Luckily my waking had coincided with Jerk’ pulling into the services, giving me the chance to go to Costa for a massive coffee! The rest of the journey home was a lot more comfortable for me and lot more noisy for my companions because a massive Latte tends to bring out the chatty housewife in me! I got home and slept through till Monday!

Chin up FMD!

There was no midweek game, so next up was a home tie against Crewe. A match many were viewing as a do or die moment.

But that’s a story for the next blog

FMD

Next – A late win at Crewe!

Acid Grapes!

Saturday 10th September - Rotherham United - Away


So, we find ourselves facing Rotherham again - the first time since
the fantastic memory of defeating them 3-2 at Wembley in the Play Off
Final.  All ghosts have been put to bed since then, both sides having
lost a number of players (in fact I believe only two starters for the
hosts played in the game, a very big turnaround!)

My weekend was to prove eventful, but i wont bore you all with the
extra trivia - nobody wants to hear about me listening to news reports
of 9/11 on my drive home in terrible wind, after all!  What happens on
away days, stays on away days (unless we choose!!)

Anyhow, the day started with my usual plodding along, getting nowhere.
Seeing as i used to live up there, I figured I knew how long it'd
take me to get there, and what with my habit of being late for
arriving places (yet seldom missing a kick off!) this was a bad
combination, especially adding the roadworks, and a dodgy car into the
equation.

At the end of last season, I got rid of the old faithful Rover [and don't I fucking know it! - FMD], and replaced it with another BMW Driving Machine.  I did not know that by
Driving Machine, they meant massive oil leaks, and vents that blow
smoke into the car when they feel like it.  But, these things are sent
to try us, and when the smoke started feeding its way into my lungs
somewhere near Huntingdon on the A14, I decided to pull up and
investigate (I say investigate, I mean I ate a sandwich before
continuing my trip).



The rest of the trip went better than expected, I think the wind must
have been behind me, because i arrived a full hour before kick off,
had a reasonably lengthy discussion with Brian Woodall's father, and
sat in the pub for a while (I elected to drive past my hotel for the
night because I am a fool).

Then came 14:50, and I made my way into the ground.

Now, I've never been up to The Donald Duck Arena to see a game, and
what I had heard was that it was a poor venue with a bad pitch, but
honestly, awful atmosphere aside, the rest of it wasn't too bad!  The
view, though lengthy, was good - far better than The Withdean last
year,  and the pitch looked in decent shape.

However, upon kick off I stopped caring.  Having visited Hereford on
our previous away match, I was hoping for something more entertaining
from us, but unfortunately that isn't what we got.  Within 8 minutes
we'd gone a goal down.  I have to say, Rotherham, though not
appearing to need to get out of first gear, look a good bet for
promotion this season, we on the other hand look like we will
struggle.  I hate saying it, and I am more than willing to be wrong,
but it appears so.

Scott Doe forced in an equaliser on 21 minutes and it seemed we may
have a game on our hands, but come the 29th and 38th minutes, the game
was already done and dusted,  The foot was off the gas as far as
Rotherham were concerned, and it was game over.  We did pick up in the
second half with the introduction of Jon Nurse and Mark Arber (great
to have him back!), but Rotherhams effective game ensured that again,
the travellers were to go home unhappy.



Overall I did enjoy my Don Valley experience, its always nice to see a
new ground, especially one where you wouldn't expect to find football,
and the second half was made all the more delightful by the artistic
skills of Gina Bowd and the unfortunately unsuccessful attempt by
Mitchell Bowd to scale the hill behind the goal whilst the game was
being played.

I don't wish to dwell on the actual game too much (we did hit the bar
though through Oliver Lee, i believe), i never do when we lose.

Sour grapes?  Fucking acid my friends, acid grapes!

JerkFromTheCoach

Next - FMD sums up September and looks to a fresh start in October

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?

If Football Matches Finished at Half-Time

(Words By Anthony Hodgson)

Hello there, yes it's me, after buying Full Metal Dagger a burger and a late night chat about blogging (he posted something I got nosey, then made him an offer), I now work for the hairy mafia. I would just like to thank Full Metal Dagger and Jerk From The Coach for allowing me to now post my inner thoughts on Dagenham and Redbridge on their site. So let's get started shall we?

I asked for ideas about a new blog post, I was originally going to trapse through the forum and give my take on some of the hot topics on there, something I may do in the future, but Thomas Thorn gave me a better idea so thanks for the title mate.

What if by some quirk of fate FIFA decided that what football needed wasn't goal line technology, balls with sensors in, 5 referees, clubs run financially properly, a bribe free organisation, but for matches to end at half-time whatever the result was at the time? A bit like the golden goal rule they had at one stage, must say great idea there Sepp got anymore stonkers? Women wearing tighter tops for football? Sorry you tried that one didn't you, anyway here's what I found out.



Would it change the course of history? Would it mean that clubs that survived on the last day of the season be relegated instead? Would it effect those who won promotion not have achieved it? To be honest I couldn't really care less, and seeing as this is a Dagenham and Redbridge site let's concentrate on the daggers shall we?

So looking back over our league history, having looked through loads of stats (you've got to love Wikipedia), consulted my memory banks, well I'm getting on and it ain't what it was, Christ I can't even remember the kids names half the time let alone whether I've just been to the toilet, (always best to go again if you can't remember) I have found out the following. Nothing, not a thing. There isn't a website I know of, so having come up short in my search I then decided to have a look at how many games as a league club we would have won and points we would have gained.

I shall be using what I shall call the Sepp Blatter stupid rule, well cricket has the duckworth-Lewis method and no one gets that do they? So how many points would we be on and also how many would we have lost using this method.

So here we go then the results are in and I can announce the following, the winner of this years X-factor is, oh crap sorry wrong blog :). Right back on track then.

In our first season in League 2 07-08 we gained 49pts in total using the Sepp Blatter rule we would have ended the season on 39pts a difference of 10 points

Season 08-09 when we just missed the play-offs we gained 68pts in total, using the Sepp Blatter rule we would have ended the season on 47pts a difference of 21 points

Season 09-10 our promotion winning season we ended on 72pts in total, using the Sepp Blatter rule we would have ended the season on 34pts a difference of 38 points

Season 10-11 our only season in League 1 we ended on 47pts in total, using the Sepp Blatter rule we would have ended the season on 29pts a difference of 18 points.

So what does this all mean then? Well, hang on a minute while I work it out, 2+3-4x22= I have no idea! No seriously, believe it or not our future wouldn't have changed. We would still have been relegated last season, we would still have been promoted a couple of seasons ago.

That my friends is the beauty of football, you can stick as many equations and stupid rules into it as much as you like but at the end of the day nothing changes. Players will miss open goals, score stunning 30 yarders, teams will somehow beat their rivals 8-2, and underdogs will win games they shouldn't.

You can't change football no matter how much you try, you can't for a simple reason, it's played by humans for humans. When emotion is involved all reason goes out of the window. Football is a game of passion and emotion, so let's leave it alone and live with the memories, good and bad, that have been created by it and not worry about the what ifs? Because in football the what ifs are what make the game the beauty that it is.

Thank you to statsbuster.com for all the football league records.

Ant

Herefeeeeughhhhhhh

Knowing i'd be missing the midweek game away in the Far East (at the
Matchstick Stadium, Leyton) for a game in the Dulux Super Cup I
figured that i'd best sort out my football fix with a trip to glorious
Hereford, a place known for its cattle more than its football.

Saturday 3rd September - Hereford United - Away

....and looking at Edgar Street its easy to see why.  I practically
had to grease myself up to fit through the turnstiles, and when i did
was presented with the worlds slowest tea bar, and toilets which were
nothing more than a groove keyed from the floor tiles, and a badly
placed sink.  In addition, they stunk.  Welcome to Medieval Hereford.
The Mappa Mundi wouldn't have looked out of place framed on the wall
in front of aforementioned floor groove.



Our stand was a true beauty to behold.  The Arthur Scargill Stand
(Cargill...) was slimmer than some of our supporters (myself included)
and is made up of a lower tier of terracing, and an upper of 5 rows of
seating.  The lower tier view is obstructed....i say obstructed, its
obstructed in much the same way a coffin obstructs ones view of a
corpse.  There may as well have been a wall built an inch in front of
our faces it was that bad.  In fact, the only decent-ish view was to
be gained from an area which they had painted yellow markings onto the
floor of, and of which it was a crime to stand in.  I dont know why
common sense cant be applied when a club that takes such small numbers
away from home are playing.  Anyone left in the ground long enough to
die in an emergency when the rush outside consists of a queue of 13
people and a hot dog, in reality, deserves to die.  So, we had to
stand behind the pillars to try and view the game.



During the pre-game warm up and indeed after the whistle, it could be
noted that there was absolutely no atmosphere whatsoever.  The home
fans are appalling, I dont think i even heard them until around 20
mins from the end.  Still....rather Edgar Street than a soulless
flatpack like Shrewsbury Town - as when the supporters did bother, you
could hear them.


I really didn't get to see much first half, and it was largely
uneventful nevertheless (what i could see anyway).  The only point of
note was a penalty shout for us, which seemed to see the linesman call
for a spot kick, only for it to be refused by the referee and see us
given a throw in.  Not quite sure what went on there, but, shocking
officiating - as usual.  The sides went in 0-0, and for the second
half we decided that we'd sneak upstairs into the seats to actually
watch the game.

...I wish we hadn't have bothered.  I wont pretend we looked useful in
any way, and in my opinion the bright point came with the introduction
of Jake Reed.  This game had all the feeling of two sides who come the
end of the season will be struggling at the wrong end of the table,
looking through their anus's at the bottom two places.  Why do we come
out so negative away?  After 60 minutes or so, i spent much of the
game staring into the distance at Hereford Cathedral.



On the other hand, when looking at the teams, it can be noted that we
were missing the likes of Elito and Arber, who will be influential to
how we finish come the end of the season.  No sign of Dominic Greene
either - for reasons I am not aware of.   Jon Nurse was away on
International duty.

So roll on 85 minutes, when a weak Hereford goal made the score 1-0,
thus giving them their first league win of the season, and ensuring
our record of conceding late goals lives on.  It's frustrating,
because we could have so easily had something from this game -
Hereford were bloody awful.  I wouldnt be surprised to see them go
down this season.





JerkFromTheCoach

Next - A Game no one cares about, apparently!

2 Halves, Hospitality and Headaches

Disclaimer – When leaving for this match I completely forgot my camera and the memory card on my phone was full, therefore I have no photos from this game.  But fear not, I shall replace the photos with shite stick-man drawings! YAY! – FMD (sorry)

“Are you coming to Romford with us then?”
There are a couple of scenarios that ran through my mind as I that sentence reached my half asleep ears.  The first scenario I envisioned saw me peeling myself from my comfy bed, crawling into the family car for the journey and then walking bleary eyed around Romford’s many shops (stopping for a Subway sandwich along the way) and then being dropped off at Vicky road in time for a pint.

The alternative saw me planting my face back into the warm crater I had imprinted in my pillow, falling back to sleep for about an hour, dragging my carcass to the couch to watch Soccer AM (on an hour delay due to the delights of Sky+) and then…  well that’s as far as the plan went.  “Would you mind if I didn’t” I mumbled before rolling over and falling back to sleep.   Bed 1 – 0 Outside world

About an hour later I was sitting on the couch watching SoccerAM and enjoying a cup of tea when my phone rang. It was Jerk’ finding out if I was going down to The Bell for a pre match drinky because someone he’d spoken to on “footballforums.net” was going to be there and what’s more he was going to drive down there and did I want a lift!
“Lemme finish my tea and put some pants on!”

Saturday 27th August - Torquay Untied - Home

The previous weekend had seen us take all three points from Bradford so I was quietly confident that we could do the same against the Gulls.

At The Bell I met the Torquay fan that Jerk’ knew (Alex) and his friend Paul (who I shall call “Torquay Paul” to save confusion between him and our Paul), both of whom were already well into their days drinking. Not wanting to be left out I got my pint and chatted with the two. I found both to be very good company and the banter was free flowing.  Torquay Paul commented how we were the first metalheads he’d met on his many away days to which I said “count yerself lucky, Barking and Dagenham aint exactly swimming with us!”



After about 4 pints and a shot of Vodka (courtesy of Torquay Paul) it was time to catch the 103 to Victoria Road.  The bus rocked with the sound of 7 drunken Daggers and 2 drunken Gulls as songs were sung at each other and anyone else who dared get on the bus! But the bus driver was very understanding about the whole thing and even gave us a wave in response to “driver, give us a wave!” top bloke!

As we got into Fortress Victoria our yellow wearing guests made for the Marcus James and we made for the sieve.  The game itself (as many are) was a game of two halves. Two very distinctive halves.

The first half saw us controlling the game but not finding that all important end product. I thought Tomlin was going to get his first of the season when he picked up Abu Ogogo’s deflected shot, sadly he fired it at the keeper who smothered the ball.  It was Sam Williams who opened the scoring, Gavin Tomlin put the ball into the box for Nurse who lifted it on to Williams whose whipped header curled into the far corner.  1-0 to the Daggers.  So far it had been a solid showing from the Daggers and a lovely little bit of link up between Williams, Tomlin and DJ Green nearly culminated in DJ getting his first but for a save , the ball made it back to DJ who took an ambitious cross/shot which Robert Olejnik just managed to tip it over the bar.  During the halftime break whilst eating my burger I realised I was developing quite a nasty headache, not good!



The second half was a completely different matter, I don’t know whether Torquay came out of the traps or if we run out of steam or a mixture of the two. Whatever it was the second half did not make for comfortable watching. We started brightly enough but within 10 minutes Torquay started to box us in and Chris Lewington really came into his own with a couple of saves to keep us in it.

Then the almost inevitable happened; Mark Arber tripped Billy Bodin in the box and the Ref pointed towards the spot Rene Howe stepped up and converted. 1-1. At this point I could honestly see us conceding again, maybe it’s just the cynic in me. But despite this we held on for the point. I hate to cast shadows over points but walking out I couldn’t help but feel it was two points dropped. In hindsight points are points and I shant moan.



We met up with the Torquay boys in the car park and jumped on the 103 back to The Bell and after a quick pint I decided that the pain in my head was too much to bare and I went home and quite literally laid down in a dark room and fell asleep.

COME ON YOU DAG….
(shhh I have a headache!) 

Come on you daggers!

FMD

Next – The land of Milk and errrr Beef!  Hereford!

I Don't Wanna Say i Told You So...

I think it's fair to say the mood in camp was at best mixed and at worse, hysterical. Maybe.

The loss to AFC Wimbledon had left a cloud over Vicky Road and a bit of a division in our fan base;  pessimism vs optimism, ambition vs contentment. Despite this I was surprisingly optimistic about our chances in our next match against fellow league 1 dropouts Swindon Town. You see I have noticed a pattern with Daggers (especially last season); we seem to be a mirror for the teams we are playing. If we play a good team we step up and play well, if we are playing a less skilled opponent we'll play sloppy and concede soft goals (the only exception is cup matches were all bets are off). Even though Swindon had Paolo Di Cannio now installed as manager and should be aiming for promotion they were in the same boat as us with 1 win and 1 loss and like I said, I had a good feeling.


Tuesday 16th August - Swindon Town - Home

I wasn't as organised as I would have liked so I decided with time running short I would forego a trip to the Bell and just have a quick pint in the clubhouse before kick-off. I got the tube from Upney to Daggy-East with the missus and her mate and we took the short walk to the ground. The car park wasn't amazingly packed so with 20 minutes to 7:45 I was optimistic I could get in the clubhouse and sink a nice cold Grolsh before kick-off. I marched off to the bar but just before I got to the door I realised no one had followed me. I walked back a short way to find MrsMD and Co' queuing to buy 50-50 tickets "arrrrrrgggghhhhh!". Now while I wholeheartedly support the 50-50 scheme and often participate (anything that gives money to the club is good in my eyes) but anything that holds me up from a pre-match beer is an inconvenience that must be eliminated. The clubhouse wasn't too packed, so a beer was acquired and imbibed with relative ease.



Walking through the turnstile into the familiar air of the LBB&D Stadium I looked at the Marcus James which was about a third full. Not bad for a Tuesday night. The teams were just coming out as I found my usual spot.
Early on Ollie Lee flashed a shot wide and new boy Brian Woodhall fired into the Swindon Keeper’s waiting arms. The Sieve was in good voice and ex-Hammer Di Cannio in the away dugout and Ex-Dagger Matt Ritchie on the pitch banter was aplenty.  Town midfielder Etiënne Esajas fired from way out but rising star Chris Lewington collected nicely from a dive.



Alan McCormack passed to the feet of Raffaele De Vita whose curling effort went wide of the far post.  At the other end of the pitch Johnny Nurse whipped in a ball but Brian Woodhall’s header flew high over the bar. De Vita received the ball in the box and looked odds on for a good shot until he was brought down by Scott Doe. De Vita, Di Cannio and the Swindon fans all screamed for a penalty but the Ref waved it away as a fair tackle, looking back at the replay it could be 50/50 at best, at worse he got the man then kicked the ball away, so maybe a lucky escape. In response to Di Cannio’s outrage a rousing chorus of “Fuck off Di Cannio!” filled the air, that and a lot of bad Italian accents! “babba da booopi!”.



We had to wait till the second half for a goal and it seemed like it would come from Woodhall who latched onto Nurse’s pass and drove the ball low, hard and (only just) wide. The opening goal eventually came from a penalty; Tomlin received the ball from a throw on and made a dash into the box only to be tripped by Paul Caddis. The Ref pointed to the spot and Mark Arber Marked his return as the penalty taker with a nice clean strike into the net. 1-0 to the Daggers.



The Robins desperately tried to fight back and I thought they were sure to score when we just couldn’t seem to clear it out of the box and it was nearly matt Ritchie who buried it, but instead he smacked it into Doe but not before handling the ball and conceding a free kick.



As the final whistle blew a cheer rose from the sieve. The kind of cheer we all needed, teams and fans both. As the red and blue mass shuffled toward the exit the team came round to clap the fans and we rewarded them with applause.  My little troupe made our way to the bell for a celebratory drink and we encountered an amazingly drunk woman who told us her life story (a story of great riches, crippling poverty and arsehole children!).

2 wins out of 3 ain’t bad. Now all we needed was a goal from open play!

Come on you Daggers!

FMD

Next – We get drunk with some Torquay fans!

Oh, Did the football season start?

Soooooo we're back

First a quick rundown of where your favourite hairy buggers have been. Well Jerk' has been doing a butt-load of overtime in a bid to become the richest man in Becontree and I have been doing a voluntary work placement in the hope that my 6 year absence from getting up at a ridiculous time of the morning to go to a job I hate can finally end, YAY!  Other than that I have been running round like a crazy bastard trying to get my band together.

But don’t despair I still found time to go to some football (even if I haven’t found the time to write about it) first things first, the friendlies. In the interest of not giving our readers "World of Warcraft" levels of eyestrain I shall present my cliff notes versions of the ones I attended.
Saturday 23rd July - Orient - Home (friendly)
Pretty Boring but informative. Nice to see the new players and it was amusing to see how seriously the travelling "O's" took the fixture "bless!” 0-0

Tuesday 26th July - Wet Spam - Home (friendly)

Actually quite fun. The Daggers looked lively and if it wasn't for Robert Green clawing out Jake Reeds shot we could have walked out with a Draw (we should have shot for Greens feet!). 0-1 to the Hammers.

Saturday 30th July - Stevenage - Home (Friendly)

Was nice to see the fringe players run about especially injuries mounting. Overall, it was a pretty standard friendly.  1-2 to the Visitors.

Monday 1st August - Thurrock - Away (Friendly)

Probably my favourite pre-season game. Me the missus and a couple of fellow Daggers parked in between the dugouts listening to Wayne Burnett shout at everything in sight, simply awesome. Got to see Lee Goodwin being a manager and a lot of the trailists and fringe players looked pretty good. Ian Gayle (yes that one!!) Dwight Gayle, Osborn and Louis Dennis all impressed in our 5-0 win.
Oh Paul Terry didn’t try to shag my woman! Thumbs up all round then!



With Pre-season over all eyes turned to the opening trip to Macclesfield.

The night before I had requested an early wakeup call at about half 6 but at half 7 I was still glued with sleepy-time sweat to my pillow. Peeling myself from the bed I pulled on my brand new Daggers shirt, went through what I shall tactfully call "the morning routine!" and left for Vicky Road. We were greeted by the sight of about 100 or more early rising Daggers (hehehe that is officially my new term for "morning glory", BAD FMD!!! get your mind above yer navel!)

Saturday 6th August - Macclesfield Town - Away

Pleasantries where exchanged between people that hadn’t seen each other for 2 months and then we boarded the coach. The coach for today was a proper swish one and many of us spent a good 10 minutes playing around with the various features of the posh seats. "oooooh it goes sideways!!" the coach trundled up the motorway northbound and we watched "Paul" on the little flip down coach telly's The chatter on the coach reflected the optimism and nervousness a new season brings, I had a long chat with a relatively new Dagger who after last season is a self-proclaimed "life long convert". Good on ya mate!

Now the thing is, I can’t eat in the mornings. I have to have been awake a good couple of hours before my stomach even realises it exists, so I left without having any breakfast. The upshot of this was a very grumbling stomach about an hour into the journey! So you could imagine my relief when we finally pulled into the M6 toll road services. Sadly they were the worst services to buy food at! I wanted some hot food and I fancied a coffee (you know the kind, one of the ones that is really hard to say and remain viewed as a heterosexual, "Caramel Latté please!")

The two main food outlets were a typical service station hotplate convention and a burger bar called "The Burger Co". Burger sounded good to me so I opted for a "Bacon-Double cheeseburger" meal and the missus had a chicken Burger. My burger tasted like they had emptied the grease-traps into a bun and added ketchup, the 4 onion rings tasted like greasy cardboard. I was not impressed; you know one of those microwavable "rustlers" burgers? Yeah, it tasted about 10x worse than that. A bargain at £7 eh!!



After my disappointing meal I decided I couldn’t be bothered to join the mammoth queue for Costa, so instead I grumbled my way back to the coach and fell asleep. We rolled into Macclesfield and after a little confusion we parked outside Moss Rose. We bought our tickets then made for the Alfred McAlpine Stand which contains "Kieths Bar"  Named for the late Kieth Alexander who died just before the last time we faced the Silkmen. Was a nice new looking (if a little cramped) bar and I sank a much needed lager.


 Looking out of the bars window I could see both teams warming up and took in the ground. The first thing I noticed was the nearest stand to us the "Star Lane" end was an odd little stand, the front half was seating but the back half was Terraced, I’ve always had a soft spot for little quirks like that.



With kick-off approaching I picked up a programme and found a space in the tiny portion of the Alfred McAlpine Stand that was our allocation for today. An MC came out (no not the rapping kind ya silly kiddies!) and informed us that today was a family day and tried (unsuccessfully) to whip up the Silkmen....Silk..Women?  Silkpersons!! yeah that's it. Tried to whip the Silkpeople into a frenzy. A smattering of polite unimpressed applause was his reward, but when he acknowledged the travelling Daggers we made more noise than the other 3 and 3/4 stands combined! Yay us!

Overall I have to say this felt to me like a shaky game, what felt like a new team was trying to find its collective feet and work as a unit, and The Silkmen took advantage of this with Waide Fairhurst coming close twice early on, but The daggers had their own chances with new boy Howell and fan favourite Johnny Nurse both having a go. With Robbo gone (oh yeah forgot to mention that!) Chris Lewington was our man between the sticks and did very well to keep out a Nat Brown header from close range. Elito nearly came close after a nice bit of headed back and forth between him and (our new number 7) Sam Williams. But all in all not a half to write home about but certainly not the worse I have seen.



The deadlock was finally broken at 60 minutes (quick side note; my golden goals ticket had "59" for fuck sake!). The Daggers had looked better in the 2nd half so far so we were glad to see Gavin Tomlin's free kick guided home by Arber... no Elito.... no Arber...errrrrrrr... hmmmm it's been given to Elito, fair enough! Either way we went nuts and celebrated our first goal of the season.

Lewington made game winning saves when he parried away Tomlinson’s volley and blocked an Emile Sinclair shot, but sadly his last contribution was a very controversial sending off for handling the ball outside of the box, which no one in the away end saw. We went absolutely fucking mental and the last 10 minutes of the game were an exercise in referee hatred. Bile flowed onto the pitch until the final whistle calmed us down. It now looks like there may have been a handball from the follow-up shot making the red card justified. But I stand by our outburst of contempt, we are here to support the boys and we didn’t think it was handball at the time and we made the appropriate noise.

I mean even the Macc's players were trying to tell the ref it was a header.
All in all I think we were a good crowd, in good voice and 3 points was a welcome start to the season. It wasn’t until the last few minutes of the match that the prophecy of rain was finally fulfilled. We walked through the rain to the coach and settled in for the (damp) journey home.




The Tuesday after The Daggers lost 5-0 to Bournemouth in our annual first round exit from the league cup. I myself didn't go and could only listen up to the third goal before an amazing wave of apathy washed over me (you know the kind, the kind that means you can decide not to care about your team receiving a battering) so I turned off the commentary and had a cry in the corner. I mean a beer.

Next on the horizon was our first home game against Football League newcomers AFC Wimbledon. I don't need to outline the Dons rise to league status here as every site/paper/sports show has already well covered it. Nethertheless here they were and they needed their first league win.

Saturday 13th August - AFC Wimbledon - Home
Saturday morning saw a welcome return to my home game routine. I sat myself on the couch and watched Soccer AM with a cuppa. I rang around my little posse and confirmed that our lot would indeed be making for The Bell, spot on!

TV off and home shirt on, we made for the pub (via Tesco’s for a sarnie). It was great to have that match day feeling back.  I love the way that nearly all the locals will wish us luck when they see us in the red and blue. I can’t be the only one to notice this.



After a couple of pints kick off was approaching, so we jumped on the 103 and rolled on to Vicky road. Due to a couple of people dithering whilst trying to get on the bus we arrived about a minute after kickoff and before we had got through the turnstiles I could hear the Wombles in full voice. After wedging myself into my favoured spot in the sieve I took in the game.

The first half hour I thought we looked really good, we were getting the ball down and passing it about and we certainly looked in more control than we had at Macclesfield. Wimbledon hardly got a shot in and the Daggers came close so many times. Williams, Nurse and Lee all had chances that never became goals. Towards the end of the half the Dons woke up a little and this little rash of enthusiasm lead to a throw near our box. As the long throw came in Scott Doe controlled it with his arm in the box and conceded a penalty, which was deftly converted by Luke Moore.



At this point I decided to go for a burger and I watched the rest of the half from the back of the sieve with a mouth full of bacon cheese burger. I have to say I wasn't too concerned with the score at this point. We had controlled the game for the most had looked very threatening at times and I honestly thought we would get at least a point from the match.

But the second half was a different affair all together. We gave it a go don’t get me wrong, but when our defence let Rashid Yussuff take a superb strike from outside the box to make it 2-0 it was safe to say the writing was on the wall. The daggers heads dropped, our fans heads dropped and anyone to do with AFC Wimbledon were having a ball and it showed. I think as fans we were a little disappointing, not much song was in the air and I think the was an air of entitlement to the three points that were on offer than day. Sadly this is football no one is entitled to anything!





Despite 5 minutes of us getting corners and Phil Walsh coming so close, the Wombles walked out with three points and a song in their heart. We filed out in silence with no points and a big doom cloud above our heads. There was no clapping after the final whistle and a few boos could be heard. The players walk around to clap the crowd was decidedly short and subdued and only a few stayed to clap them back. Daggers had made history once again, this time for being the first league club to lose to AFC Wimbledon.



In the Bell afterwards the mood was a little grey and when I got home and flipped on my laptop the forum was ablaze with criticism, counter-criticism and mudslinging. But amongst it all I think we know this will be hard season. League 2 this time round is a much harder league but on the good side last year we beat two of the biggest sides in this league (Bristol, Swindon,)

And a top half finish is on the cards, honest!

I really hope we beat Swindon, I really do! But we need to get behind the team and make some noise!




Chin up Daggers!!
(That goes for you lot too)

FMD
Next – Swindon, and Dicannio returns to East London.

10 Reasons to Look Forward to the 11/12 season

So the fixtures are out on Friday and the waiting is starting to get to me, so to pass the time I present to you

FMD's TOP 10 reasons I’m looking forward to next season.

1 The Battle for Promotion
After a season of battling to keep our heads above water it will be nice to (in theory) have a battle up at the top of a table. Some good wins will energise the team and fans alike. I think it's a tougher league 2 than last time we were here but I reckon a playoff push is on the cards.

2 Barnet
Der da'der der der der derrrrrrr who the fuck are BARNET!?
Well Barnet managed to stay in the league by the skin of their teeth so our little derby day is back on. Good times.



3 New Grounds
AFC Wimbledon and Crawley are of course the two that a lot will be looking at. As well as those there is Morecambe's new "Globe Arena" and as it was a Daggers away crowd that joined the shrimpers for their last game at Christie Park it will be nice to say hello to the new gaff.



4 The Cups
A new season brings new cups to get kicked out of and the prospect of a tie with a big club or one of our rivals. The first stone in this year’s paths to the cups will be laid on Thursday with the Carling Cup draw, where we will of course draw Mk Dons away and get dumped out, probably. Despite all the glib pessimism there is always the hope of a big tie in the later rounds and it has been a while.

Despite its tag of "tinpot" the Johnstones Paint Trophy is always a nice golden ticket for lower league teams to go to Wembley.  An example of a cup no one cares about till they think they've got a chance of winning, funny that!

The Fa Cup whilst also offering a chance at the big teams gives us the chance of some of a stab at some of the old non-league rivals as they endeavour to put together a cup run, I mean imagine Crawley and Boston in the same season!



But all of this pales in comparison to the mighty Essex Senior Cup! As I have said before I genuinely like this cup. A chance to see our young'ins on the way up and ties against old local rivals. I would love to see more people turn out for these games and get some atmosphere going. Especially as we're one of the teams with the best chance of winning it!

5 Bristol Rovers
As regular readers will know I have family in Bristol and both the home and away ties provide the perfect excuse for a reunion and some friendly banter.

6 Home games & The Burgers
I can smell the onions now. Even when I’m not planning on eating the best cheeseburger in the league, the smell of the onions and the steam from the cooking food rising out of the front of the Sieve all add to the match day feeling. Tuesdays under the lights, the rain pissing down, that old guy moaning about us not “keeping it on the deck”. Man I want it all now!




7 Away days
Away days to me are the best bit. Home is always great because it's home, our home! But away days they have the feeling of an adventure. It's like we're a group of pirates raiding the opposition for three points.  The camaraderie at away games seems a little tighter, everyone is out of their territory and everyone wants to make their presence felt. Add that to the journey itself complete with songs, service stations, a game of "guess whose fans they are" and if you're in our car listening to Burzums "Daudi Baldrs" (Norwegian black metal is a must on away days!)

8 The Pub
Before the game, after the game, at the clubhouse or at the Bell. The pub is the beginning and end of most home games. Will you be toasting another historic win? Or crying into your pint? No matter what happens, it will happen at the pub.

9 Crawley
Not so much the team, but the manager. Yep, St*ve Ev*ns. Every great story needs a villain, and boy is he ours. Even if he hadn’t been the man in the centre of "Bostongate" his constant torrent of gob-shite directed at any club or management that lays a challenge to whatever team he is managing would make him very dislikeable.

Not seen at Victoria road since that bitter time Ev*ns is now in charge of Crawley and their massive wage bill and spending more money last January that  the whole of league 2 has shattered any illusions of "non-league boys  make good" (no matter what the poxy Sun says). Ev*ns will return to what I can only assume will be a very hostile reception. To help towards this atmosphere I have penned 2 songs for the occasion

Ahem

"Evans, wherever you may be"

Ev*ns wherever you may be, 

Boston scum, or Creepy Crawley
You always cheat, you dirty runt. 

You stupid f*cking loud mouth c*nt!

"We wish we were there"

We wish we were there,
We wish we were theeeeerrrre,
When you cried in court,
We wish we were there.

I even designed a t-shirt, and if enough people say they want one I shall get some printed.




10 My Fellow Daggers
Yeah, that's right. You lot! Being in the Sieve surrounded by the red and blue army in full voice is one of the best feelings I know. I have always loved the way that the Daggers bring us together. Being a lifelong metal head I can appreciate a place that brings people of all different backgrounds and tastes together. Who says football is all conflict?



ROLL ON FRIDAY!!!!

FMD

Coming soon  - The awards