The Daggers started with the same side that faced Leigh apart from Steve Heffer (left), who came in for Danny Hill. This allowed Vickers to play left back with Bruce on the left of midfield, as Heffer helped out in the middle of an injury-riddled defence. This was not a game that was easy on the eye, as Gravesend made sure every ball was a long ball. Gravesend worryingly put the Daggers under pressure with this simple tactic, which meant they in turn played long ball to get the pressure off.
The home team, with a bumper crowd behind them, had some early shot that were well off target and it was very scrappy. The first real chance resulted in a goal from Mark Stein, who added to his two on Saturday with another here. Paul Wilkerson punched Paul Bruce's corner somewhat uncertainly, as we have come to expect from this keeper who has regular nightmare games against the Daggers. The ball was lifted back into the box and Stein was at the back post to cushion the ball into the net.
Roberts had earlier made a good save at the other end from a corner when the crowd had started cheering a goal, also holding the ball low to his right from a header. The Daggers seemed lucky to get away with a foul in the box soon after Stein's goal as the linesman flagged to give it but was overruled by the referee, but a penalty was given for another incident soon after. Goodwin was beaten by the winger and brought him down as he ran into the box. Roberts had no chance with penalty into the top corner.
The Daggers should have then had a penalty of their own as Perkins was shoved over from a long throw, but the referee, who was poor by the admission of both sets of fans, waved the protests away and seemed to be amused at the screaming of the Daggers fans behind the goal.
The Daggers came racing out in the second half much as they had done against Leigh. Within a minute of the restart, the Daggers scored what was to be the winner. Perkins picked up on a loose ball and ran across the box. He played a superbly disguised pass through the legs of Barnett and into Shipp (right), who swiveled and shot across the keeper with his left foot, beating the keeper into the bottom corner.
At the other end, a twenty minute period saw unrelenting Gravesend attacking that just refused to give them the goal they wanted. Firstly, Vickers missed a tackle and the forward suddenly found himself one-on-one with Roberts. Roberts came and spread himself superbly, meaning the striker could only curl his low trickling effort against the post for it to be hacked away for the corner.
Soon after, another corner saw a header that looped over Roberts and hit the top of the bar, and then again a right wing cross was met at the back post and somehow the Gravesend player managed to smack his header onto the bar and over instead of beating the exposed Roberts. Various other shots rained in onthe Daggers goal, most of which were wayward, and the Daggers will be thankful for the poor finishing of the home side.
Jūniņr came off the bench for the Daggers and breathed fresh impetus into the visiting team. He ran all over the pitch and basically made us look a much better side with his movement and pace, as he had done again Leigh. He had one chance that went just wide, as he beat a defender and found himself with only the keeper to beat, but Wilkerson was quick off his line and the angle was also tight meaning he could only shoot just wide. He deserved to score soon after when he smacked a shot against the post. He ran across the box and held off the defender before hitting a low shot that had Wilkerson well beaten but luckily for him it came back off the post.
Paul Bruce then also hit the woodwork, this time the bar. McGavin, with one of his rare touches in a game without a midfield, came inside with the ball and tried to slide a ball across to Stein despite their being 3 defenders in the ball's path, and with an easy ball to Jūniņr down the line. The ball was easily intercepted, but he was brought down outside the box, and Bruce's excellent set-piece came back off the bar.
Another three points to keep the Daggers top of the rather meaningless league table at this stage, but another performance that didn't sparkle. The tactic at the moment seems to be to use Jūniņr as a late sub on tired legs, but really on the last two games he should be in the side. Danny Hill seems to be notable by his absence when not in the side, and maybe at the moment a 3-5-2 setup would help due to the lack of defenders and many midfielders. The new players need time to gel, as this team looks very little like the one that came so close last year at the moment, and a good performance will be needed to take points from Scarborough.
