Match Discussion: Game 24 - Daggers (H)

[PON_News]

Game 24 - Daggers (H)

Team: Dagenham & Redbridge

Date: 09/02/2021

Where: Meadow Lane

What line-up should Neal Ardley opt for? What will be the key areas for the Magpies to get a victory? What do you think the final score will be?

Have your say below, join in with the Pride of Nottingham match discussion.

[Dripsey3]

My sources tell me the pitch is covered so the game should go ahead. Here's hoping! We drew at their place. A 0-0 draw. Dagenham are 17th but only 7 points behind Notts who are in 6th. Notts have played 2 less games but it shows how tight the table is at the moment. Dagenham have pulled off some decent results. They beat Torquay away with 10 players. They went to Wrexham at the weekend and came away with a 2-2 draw. They can't be underestimated but Notts are the better side. 2-0 to Notts I reckon. 

[menzinho]

I’ve only ever seen Notts play as high as League 1 so for me I genuinely think that is the most impressive performance I’ve seen.

When Slocombe got sent off I would’ve absolutely taken a 1-1 there and then. Probably wouldn’t even been that gutted if we’d lost 2-1 but to win that like we did is… Wow.

Glad Doyle pulled rank and got that kit off Ruben otherwise we wouldn’t have seen his goal as it was an absolute beauty. I can’t fault anyone’s performance, about 70 mins in I thought “yep we’re actually going to win this”, they were all so dominant.

And so much for our defensive manager who kept 2 strikers on when we went down to 10. The hardest decision he’ll have to make for Wrexham will be Pilling or Doyle in goal? 

Glad I’m not a Dagenham fan…

[Elite_pie]

That was beyond surreal! Fantastic, Amazing, Brilliant, Superb, Incredible and any other superlatives you can think of with a capital letter. I'm buzzing more than the world's biggest beehive at the moment. I thought the second half would be hard to watch, but it turned out to be a walk in the park. The player ratings thread is redundant tonight, because everyone deserves 10/10*. If I had to pick someone above the others, it would be Neal Ardley with 10.001/10. When we went down to 10 men, our tactics and formation were spot on, and if anything, we looked like the team with an extra man. We need to use this game as a springboard to promotion, because the ability is definitely there. The only downside is that we couldn't be there to see it - 5,000 inside Meadow Lane would have sounded like 20,000 under those circumstances, and very few would have gone home until the last man had been applauded off.

* Sorry Sam Slocombe, I can forgive your poor first touch, but the studs up tackle when their striker was going away from goal was a moment of madness. I think the ref got the red card right.

[Elite_pie]

Out of interest, when Sam Slocombe was sent off if we were asked who we would put in goal, am I the only one who would have put Michael  Doyle at the very bottom of the list?

[Piethagoram 𝕏 @piethagoram]

I just hope that the Sam Slocombe "moment" isn't a repeat of the Ross Fitzsimons "moment" against Crawley. Will Ardley will go for an experienced emergency loan keeper to cover for the 3 games Sam will be missing?..... just seen Ardley's interview..the answer to that is no

[Piethagoram 𝕏 @piethagoram]

On reflection, going a man down, one would normally see someone like Knowles, Enzio or Ruben substituted for JOB. Full credit for  Ardley to keeping the team "shape", a lesson on not "backs to the wall and booting it anywhere" but keeping possession, not allowing the Daggers to get control of the ball to make their numerical advantage count.

[Super_Danny_Allsopp]

7 hours ago, Piethagoram said:

On reflection, going a man down, one would normally see someone like Knowles, Enzio or Ruben substituted for JOB. Full credit for  Ardley to keeping the team "shape", a lesson on not "backs to the wall and booting it anywhere" but keeping possession, not allowing the Daggers to get control of the ball to make their numerical advantage count.

I was dreading that substitution. Glad it didn't come. 

 

[Super_Danny_Allsopp]

I don't want to take anything away from our performance because it really was a special one, however just to make a comment on the opposition:

They were terrible. It was snowing and a bit cold, but you just got the feeling they weren't really up for it. A glance at the league table will probably tell you why; despite being tipped as promotion contenders, they are languishing near the bottom but unlikely to go down and probably unlikely to reach the playoffs. Even though it is still early in the season, maybe they consider the season as a write-off? That's the only reason I can fathom as to why they were so bad.

If I were a Daggers fan, I'd want the manager gone. Clearly he can't motivate a group of players, and who knows what (if any) instruction he was giving to them. Even in kids football, if they see a keeper a third the size of the goal, they know to start having shots and getting the ball in high. It's not rocket science, it really is quite basic. Balls into the penalty area would have caused us some problems, because there's no way Doyle would be coming out to claim them, then it essentially is a 50/50 toss up, with the ball pinging about the box. 

Why were they not shooting? Don't get me wrong Doyle made a couple of decent shot stopping saves, but any shot that was beyond the centre of the goal, he would start to struggle (as seen with the goal). I can't remember them even trying to have a pop? 

Baffling performance from them.

 

They had one player for me who came on and knew what to do: George Saunders. Looked quite dangerous, took us on and had a couple of pops on goal. Seemed they got him in the summer from lower down the pyramid. Still only 22. Worth a look, Ardley?

https://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=134472

[menzinho]

16 hours ago, Elite_pie said:

Out of interest, when Sam Slocombe was sent off if we were asked who we would put in goal, am I the only one who would have put Michael  Doyle at the very bottom of the list?

I think Kelly-Evans would be my last choice. Absolutely fearless, but I’d be shooting from the halfway line if I saw him in goal!

I know what you mean, first thought is to get someone bigger there but the likes of Rawlinson and Wootton are too influential. Considering the formation we switched too Doyle ended up being the ideal choice.

Edited February 10, 2021 by menzinho

[Piethagoram 𝕏 @piethagoram]

@Super_Danny_Allsoppagreed, George Saunders their stand out amongst the mediocrity 

https://www.hornchurchfc.com/player/george-saunders/

 

[Elite_pie]

4 hours ago, menzinho said:

I think Kelly-Evans would be my last choice. Absolutely fearless, but I’d be shooting from the halfway line if I saw him in goal!

I know what you mean, first thought is to get someone bigger there but the likes of Rawlinson and Wootton are too influential. Considering the formation we switched too Doyle ended up being the ideal choice.

No way, Kelly-Evans may be only 5 feet tall, but he's 10 feet tall when he jumps!  When Rodrigues took the green shirt first, I thought it was the best option because he seemed to have the height and agility.  What do I know?  If he had gone between the sticks we wouldn't have seen that stunning second goal.

[DangerousSausage]

Well that was rather pleasant, wasn't it?! Leaving two up front and staying positive was definitely the right decision, but to be fair it was also the only decision - parking the bus for 70 plus minutes with an outfield player in goal would have just been an invitation for the visitors to pepper the area with crosses and shots. Great stuff from the whole team. Meadow Lane would have been bouncing.

I hope we can take some momentum from this, and fingers crossed for Luke Pilling in goal over the next few games (those FA Trophy appearances should come in handy now). Unless Schmeichel Doyle wants another go?

Looking at the table, we're now 11 points behind Torquay with 4 games in hand. In terms of points per game, we're potentially a win away from catching them. And PPG could matter this season.

[liampie]

very good result, when slocombe got sent off i thought it would end in defeat or a draw at the least.

ruben did very well to smash his goal in, kyle is starting to crop up where needed but his 2nd was a stunner in its own right. i thought doyle did well in goal, perhaps not as much as some keep banging on but if it annoys dagenham then it worth it. great result.