News - August 2002
Back to News 02/03
Back to Index

Matthews & Co Are Back
29/08/2002
Lee Matthews came back from 13 months of agony at Bedford in the Sygnus Capital Reserve League, and came through 45 minutes without any problems. Mark Smith replaced him at half time, coming back from a stomach strain. Other faces on the comeback trail are Tim Cole and Mark Rooney, as well as winger Mark Janney. This will be welcome news for Garry Hill, as all the players are expected to be close to making first team appearances. The return of Matthews in particular will be a superb boost for everybody at the club, as well as the player who has been out for so long. The operation he had was to rebuild a badly stretched cruciate ligament. This was nothing new to the big defender who has had a similar operation on the other knee, from which he came back. The rest of players are all close to comebacks. In the game, the Daggers won 3-0, with Paul Piscopides scoring a hat-trick. Matthews and Janney are pictured below.

Johnson Signs
14/08/2002
Former Colchester centre back Ross Johnson has signed for the Daggers. With continuing injuries at the back, Garry Hill felt further reinforcements were needed. According to a quote in the local papers, this could also see one of the current defenders leave the club. DaggerNet would hope that this will not happen. Johnson, who has played over 160 games in the Football League, will make his debut against Leigh and wear number 23. Ollie Berquez has now been given the number 22 shirt.

Squad Numbers
06/08/2002
The Dagges squad numbers have been announced and are as follows:
1 Roberts
2 Cole
3 Vickers
4 Goodwin
5 Smith
6 Heffer
7 Janney
8 Terry
9 Shipp
10 Stein
11 Bruce
12 Perkins
13 Junior
14 Hill
15 West
16 McGavin
17 Matthews
18 Gothard
19 Hayzelden
20 Rooney
21 Vaughan
Interestingly, Junior McDougald will have simply 'Junior' on his shirt as this is a nickname and not his real first name, in the same way as 'Rivaldo'. Tony Roberts has already had his name and number printed on the back of his short sleeved keeper's jersey as sported against Peterborough on Monday night. Lee Matthews has also had his Number 5 shirt awarded to Mark Smith who wore it in his absence last season. Hopefully Lee can get back in the side with his new Number 17 shirt. The Daggers are also negotiating a deal with a company that will allow fans to have the names and numbers printed on the back of the shirts in the same as style as the players. This will hopefully be announced shortly.

Bruce Signs
01/08/2002
Former QPR midfielder Paul Bruce has signed a 2 year contract with the Daggers. Paul has played in some of the pre-season games and impressed enough to be offered a deal. His player profile will appear in the relevant section of this site soon.