Dagenham & Redbridge 3

Steve Evans 25' (og) Ben Strevens 86' Jamie Taylor 90'

Wrexham 0

 

Saturday 08 December 2007

 

Kick Off @ 15:00

Wrexham
Starting XI:
01 Anthony Williams
05 Steve Evans
04 Shaun Pejic
06 Richard Hope
31 Wes Baines 46'
26 Robbie Garrett
09 Neil Roberts 77'
11 Chris Llewellyn
03 Ryan Valentine
10 Michael Proctor
21 Marc Williams 83'
Substitutes:
13 Michael Jones (GK)
17 Josh Johnson 83'
20 Matty Done 77'
25 Neil Taylor
29 Sam Aiston 46'
Stats:
4 Shots on Goal
2 Shots on Target
2 Shots off Target
% Possession
13 Fouls Conceded
12 Corners
1 Yellow Cards
0 Red Cards

Dagenham & Redbridge
Starting XI:
01 Tony Roberts
02 Magnus Okuonghae
05 Jonathon Boardman
15 Anwar Uddin
22 Marlon Patterson
08 Glen Southam
06 Shane Huke
03 Sam Sloma
21 Dominic Green 74'
09 Jon Nurse 90'
14 Paul Benson
Substitutes:
16 Jamie Taylor 90'
18 Ben Strevens 74'
24 Tony Cook
25 Solomon Taiwo
30 Ed Thompson (GK)
Stats:
10 Shots on Goal
5 Shots on Target
5 Shots off Target
% Possession
8 Fouls Conceded
9 Corners
0 Yellow Cards
0 Red Cards

Match Notes
Venue: Victoria Road
Attendance: 1,520
Half Time: Dag & Red 1 Wrexham 0
Referee: Pat Miller

Match Incidents
25' Steve Evans (Wrexham)
63' Ryan Valentine (Wrexham)
86' Ben Strevens (Dag & Red)
90' Jamie Taylor (Dag & Red)

Match Reports

WSA: Final Whistle Podcast

BBC: Dag & Red 3-0 Wrexham

TEAMtalk: Daggers escape danger zone

Wales on Sunday: Daggers twist the knife as Reds run is halted

Wrexham FC: Dagenham 3 Wrexham 0

Wrexham MAD: Dagenham & Redbridge 3 Wrexham 0

League Two Results
Barnet 2 Macclesfield 2
Brentford 0 Grimsby 1
Chester 1 Peterborough 2
Chesterfield v Bradford
Dag & Red 3 Wrexham 0
Hereford 1 Lincoln City 1
Mansfield v Bury - Postponed
MK Dons 5 Accrington Stanley 0
Morecambe v Darlington - Abandoned
Notts County 2 Shrewsbury 1
Rotherham 2 Rochdale 4
Stockport 6 Wycombe 0

League Two Table
    PLD GD PTS
1 MK Dons 19 23 41
2 Peterborough 19 16 37
3 Darlington 18 20 36
4 Hereford 19 16 36
5 Rotherham 19 9 36
6 Chester 19 9 32
7 Chesterfield 18 11 31
8 Rochdale 18 2 28
9 Morecambe 18 1 27
10 Wycombe 19 -2 27
11 Shrewsbury 19 -2 25
12 Barnet 19 -3 25
13 Bury 18 1 23
14 Stockport 19 -2 23
15 Accrington 19 -9 23
16 Macclesfield 19 -6 22
17 Bradford 19 -4 21
18 Notts County 19 -7 21
19 Brentford 19 -15 19
20 Grimsby 19 -12 17
21 Dag & Red 19 -14 17
22 Lincoln City 19 -14 15
23 Wrexham 18 -14 15
24 Mansfield 17 -4 13

Next Five Games

Sat 15 Dec: Brentford (h) 15:00

Sat 22 Dec: Rotherham (a) 15:00

Wed 26 Dec: Rochdale (h) 15:00

Sat 29 Dec: Stockport (h) 15:00

Tue 01 Han: Chesterfield (a) 15:00

Match Report
Brian Little tasted defeat for the first time as Wrexham manager following the 3-0 defeat at relegation rivals Dagenham & Redbridge.

Wrexham were hardly in the game and our only chances came in the second half but Dagenham dominated the game throughout.

The home side looked dangerous for the whole ninety minutes and always looked threatening when they broke down the channels, as Wrexham struggled to create anything from open play.

Brian Little has probably learned more from this game of football than in his previous three games in charge as Wrexham laboured through the first half on a waterlogged pitch.

But for all of Dagenham’s first half dominance, it took an own goal from Steve Evans to give the home side a much deserved advantage at the half time whistle as Wrexham struggled to cope with the inclement conditions.

The introduction of Sam Aiston as a second half substitute gave Wrexham an added dimension in attack and the game was far more balanced but the quality of the final ball was ultimately the difference between the two sides.

Although two goals in the last six minutes gave the score line an unfair look, you could not deny Dagenham their first  home victory in the league since the beginning of September.

As expected, Brian Little made just the one change with Marc Williams replacing the injured Eifion Williams to partner Michael Proctor up front.

The opening of the game was a scrappy affair but it was Dagenham who were coping better with the conditions and they had the first effort on goal when Anthony Williams made a comfortable save from Dominic Green, who was having an impressive debut in midfield.

Dagenham were trying to hit the channels at every opportunity but Wrexham opted to play the ball through the middle, but the heavy rain resulted in the ball sticking in the mud and Llewellyn was caught out by this as he looked to break on Proctor’s through ball.

Wrexham had struggled to test veteran Tony Roberts in the Dagenham goal with Marc Williams going the closest when he fired his header wide but the best move of the game created a good opening midway through the first half.

Good link up play from Llewellyn and Garrett allowed the latter to pick out Proctor inside of the area but he failed to connect with the ball and the home side broke quickly at the other end of the pitch to grab the opening goal of the game in the 25th minute.

It was no surprise that the cross was delivered from the Dagenham right as this is where the home side were looking the most dangerous and when Jon Nurse delivered a quality ball to the far post, Steve Evans got his angles horribly wrong as he turned the ball into his own net.

This was no more than the home side deserved but the manner of the goal was like the Wrexham of old prior to Brian Little’s appointment as manager four games a go and ended run of three straight clean sheets.

Wrexham could not respond to this and the defence were completely by passing the midfield with high clearances that were just repelled back as Proctor and Williams struggled to cope up front.

Dagenham were almost celebrating a second five minutes later when the impressive Green was picked out in space and his attempted chip over the advancing Williams went wide of the post.

The home side were now in complete control and Anthony Williams was forced to turn a shot from Southam around the post and later had to come off his line to intercept’s Green cross as the half ended with the home side on top.

Not surprisingly, Brian Little introduced Sam Aiston for Wes Baines for the start of the second half and switched to a more conventional 4-4-2 system.

Aiston was the catalyst for the turnaround and his positive running was either let down by the final ball but mainly a lack of teammates in the box to receive a cross.

Wrexham’s only spell of pressure came midway through the second half when Valentine had a shot deflected behind for a corner.

From this, Aiston delivered the ball to the edge of the area from where Steve Evans headed goalwards and Neil Roberts was unable to turn the ball in from close range.

A goal here could have turned the game in Wrexham’s favour and Proctor should have done better with fifteen minutes left when his curling shot was too close to Roberts after Aiston had done well to pick him out inside of the area.

Brian Little made use of his two remaining substitutes with Matty Done and Josh Johnson replacing Neil Roberts and Marc Williams respectively.

But it was the home side who were to score the all important next goal with four minutes of the game left and they went onto extend their lead further in injury time.

Both goals could have been avoided as Anthony Williams should have found touch with a clearance from by the corner flag but he could only find midfield.

Chris Llewellyn looked to be in control of the ball but he was brush aside with ease by Ben Strevens and Dagenham’s top goal scorer fired in a 25 yard shot that should have been saved by Williams but he flapped at the ball and the game was now beyond Wrexham.

And in the dying seconds, Jamie Taylor was played in down the right by Paul Benson and Williams should have again done better as the substitute curled the ball inside of the near post to round off a miserable afternoon for Wrexham in East London.

Match Reaction
Brian Little: "I'm always learning and I have definitely learnt more again today. It was disappointing in the first half, after playing so well at Bury, but we knew it would be different today and had worked on that in training. We didn't handle it well today, although our defending was okay, but we went and gave away that own goal. It gave them the advantage and they were certainly the better team in the first half. We changed at half time, which I felt was the right thing to do, and it certainly made us more lively. I felt for long periods of the second half that we would get something out of the game. Ultimately, they have scored two goals at the end, which might have flattered them, but their first half performance was miles better than us. I genuinely believe that I picked the wrong team today. We won at Bury in midweek and when you look at it as a manager you often say I'll keep those same players, but it just didn't work today." [Source: Wrexham FC - click here for more].