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| Daggers 3 Forest Green Rovers 1 |
| Conference - 02/11/02 |
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John Motson was part of the crowd for this game, to watch Forest Green ahead of his commentary on their game in the FA Cup First Round. However, the Daggers stole the limelight with a 3-1 win that left Motty to chose Junior as his Man of Match, who gave a very impressive display with fellow strikers West and Shipp, both of whom notched goals.
The game started fairly evenly and it was Forest Green who had the first attempt as Sykes found room about 20 yards out and firest a low left-footed shot which Roberts gathered well. However, the Daggers notched a goal with their first shot. Junior, superb with his dribbling and off-the-ball work all day, skinned the defence and got to the by-line. He then pulled it back to the far post where West was there to head home in customary meat-head style. It took some time for the Daggers to find their shooting boots again after this, although Janney ran 40 yards or more with the ball through the middle before shooting at the keeper.
Danny Shipp then had a good chance when Junior pulled it back to him on the edge of the box but his control let him down and he couldn't get a shot away. He then almost connected with a flying scissor kick from another right-wing cross which was just too high for him. Shipp was again involved soon after as he found space in the box and tried to put it across the keeper but the shot was blocked.
Junior then had a penalty shout as he went through on goal and went down under pressure from recovering defenders but the referee waved protests away. After all these missed opportunities, Forest Green had a rare shot and equalised. Potts let the winger have far too much room and he pulled it back across the box where it was laid off to Meechan who curled a great shot just inside the angle of post and bar. However, Shipp immediately hit back for the Daggers to put them back in the lead. Almostt straight from the kick-off, after a blatant handball inside the box was waved away by the referee, Shipp was quickest the react and put a lown shot past Perrin.
Junior had time to have another penalty appeal turned down as he was pulled back near the by-line as he jinked past the defender, and Shipp had a good strike charged down. Heffer also missed the target with a 20 yard effort.
The start of the second half saw Forest Green come on strong although they struggled to have any shots at goal. The best came from corners where Roberts made a couple of good saves under pressure, and also did well with his catching. He also made a good save low to his right. However, the Daggers then came back and should have scored when Vickers, on for Bruce, headed at Perrin from a corner and then the follow-up was put straight at the grounded keeper. Paul Terry then received a clearance about 25 yards out and pushed forward before putting his shot over the bar.
However, Mayo wrapped the points up for the Daggers with his first touch after coming off the bench. Mark Janney, getting a lot of joy on the right side, skinned the full-back again, and put it across for Mayo to get across his defender and prod home. Junior was relishing the space afforded to him and toyed with the defence on many an occasion. He cut inside from the left and curled one just wide of the far post, and then another magical piece of skill allowed him a chipped shot with hit the side-netting.
So, another good performance following on from good wins at Northwich and Aldershot in the Cup, the new formation seems to be working well an the Daggers are playing with grit and skill again. Their toughest test is waiting for them though, a visit to Huish Park next week to take on table-toppers Yeovil.
