Dagenham & R Trophy replay - match thread

[Amber Aleman]

I'll be honest and say I'm finding it hard to motivate myself for this one, but I expect to be there.

D&R have rather unhelpfully changed the matchday arrangements. The game will now be segregated and away fans will be seated with admission now £15 (£10 concessions). This will not help the attendance. Link below.

www.suttonunited.net/fa-trophy-replay-arrangements-update/

EDIT: I thought this game merits its own thread rather than a continuation of the one for last Saturday's match.

[jr]

Yep the extra fiver has certainly put quite a few off from the chat I’ve seen. Mag not beat Fylde away. I’m not going to this one, taking the opportunity to catch up with some old school friends, one of which now lives near Redbride!

See you all on Saturday

[Amber Aleman]

We're somewhat depleted on the pitch as well as in the stand this evening. No Eastmond, Davis or Barden in the squad, and only four subs named (including Dudzinski). Dundo starts.

[os]

And Wrexham rested most of their 1st team on Saturday with no replay plus extra time tonight.

I don't care about any cup when we are just above the league drop zone - League comes 1st..

Tell me off, I don't care

[Amber Aleman]

This was a game we could really have done without, and losing after extra time means there's no reward for all the effort other than a share of the takings from a crowd of 417 (including 49 away fans).

The result means that we've failed to progress in either of the major knockout competitions, exiting both in replays east of the River Lea.

We started with Dundo and Ajiboye up front, a pairing that didn't quite click. We were more threatening when Bugiel and Wright came on (David A reverting to his usual place on the wing), though by then we'd fallen behind to a fine strike from distance by Spanish winger Luque. Omar was fouled for the penalty with which Beautyman drew us level. But Harry left the field soon afterwards and, with JC the only outfield card left to play, the recuperating skipper had to slot into midfield.

Tiredness told in the extra thirty minutes, Omar putting us ahead after a penetrating run by Reid before Daggers turned the tie round with two goals in the space of three minutes.

[markf]

Thought we was the better side for much of the 120 minutes. When Daggers got the ball down they did play some nice stuff but that petered out in second half.

Louis John headed against the bar and over close to the end of normal time.

Midfield was a bit light in the centre with so many missing but we were in it until the end.

Carl Brook has refereed both our cup exits. He wasn't so card happy tonight but missed a hand ball in the box when their guy went to head the ball only to clear with his arm. That would probably have meant penalties though.

[markf]

As I know the Chairman likes to keep abreast of these things, I am currently on a replacement bus service next stop Portslade, destination Worthing. It is four minutes before 1am.

[Andy K]

So we have gone out of both national FA competitions in the first round we've played in at a team in Essex. But that's where the similarity ends. Billericay was a capitulation whilst once the game woke up (the first half was a pretty dire show) it was a hard fought tie, and bearing in mind how many regular first teamers we either had to rest or have injuries this side is very different to the team that exploded in the FA Cup back in October.

Some great individual performances last night in a game that really didn't benefit either side, especially the extra half an hour. Although we didn't get the result we wanted, there's no question about the team spirit again and even though the players were obviously knackered they didn't give up. Obviously I'm worried (as I expect the management team are too) about the 5 games we now have in the next 17 days and the fact we could only name 4 subs last night (1 being a keeper), but it is what it is. We do have a Saturday off on the 11th, and possibly another if Fylde beat Southport in the next round. Mind you them coming to us midweek would be a decent reflection of last Tuesday.

[Stewart]

Dec 18, 2019 0:34:20 GMT Amber Aleman said:

This was a game we could really have done without, and losing after extra time means there's no reward for all the effort other than a share of the takings from a crowd of 417 (including 49 away fans).

The result means that we've failed to progress in either of the major knockout competitions, exiting both in replays east of the River Lea.

We started with Dundo and Ajiboye up front, a pairing that didn't quite click. We were more threatening when Bugiel and Wright came on (David A reverting to his usual place on the wing), though by then we'd fallen behind to a fine strike from distance by Spanish winger Luque. Omar was fouled for the penalty with which Beautyman drew us level. But Harry left the field soon afterwards and, with JC the only outfield card left to play, the recuperating skipper had to slot into midfield.

Tiredness told in the extra thirty minutes, Omar putting us ahead after a penetrating run by Reid before Daggers turned the tie round with two goals in the space of three minutes.

You are being diplomatic Mark. Craig, bless him, no longer has the mobility and David didn’t work playing in the centre. Can’t see either starting a game upfront again. Once the changes were made their backline were put under constant pressure from Omar and Tommy.

[Andy K]

Dec 18, 2019 14:54:34 GMT Stewart said:

Dec 18, 2019 0:34:20 GMT Amber Aleman said:

This was a game we could really have done without, and losing after extra time means there's no reward for all the effort other than a share of the takings from a crowd of 417 (including 49 away fans).

The result means that we've failed to progress in either of the major knockout competitions, exiting both in replays east of the River Lea.

We started with Dundo and Ajiboye up front, a pairing that didn't quite click. We were more threatening when Bugiel and Wright came on (David A reverting to his usual place on the wing), though by then we'd fallen behind to a fine strike from distance by Spanish winger Luque. Omar was fouled for the penalty with which Beautyman drew us level. But Harry left the field soon afterwards and, with JC the only outfield card left to play, the recuperating skipper had to slot into midfield.

Tiredness told in the extra thirty minutes, Omar putting us ahead after a penetrating run by Reid before Daggers turned the tie round with two goals in the space of three minutes.

You are being diplomatic Mark. Craig, bless him, no longer has the mobility and David didn’t work playing in the centre. Can’t see either starting a game upfront again. Once the changes were made their backline were put under constant pressure from Omar and Tommy.

Being a bit harsh there I think. Omar and Tommy are our first choice strikers for a reason and it's tough to compare the pairings. As for Dundo's mobility, it's a case of strike pairings for a formation like this. Having a big strong target man along with pace isn't a bad combo. Dundo's mobility may be less than in his prime, but his strength isn't, and David not only has pace, but as we've seen twice this season already, can go through a series of defenders to score cracking goals right down the middle. Some of this was obviously game management, bearing in mind we have a lot of games coming up would you have wanted Omar and Tommy out there for what ended up to be 120 minutes and increase the risk of them being tired or injured for the entire xmas period? If not then we were not left with many options, as Jarvis seems to be injured. We had Randall, Reid and Ajiboye all available to play tonight and with the players available elsewhere, you couldn't put all 3 of them in midfield (and add Milsom to that equation). So you put the one upfront most likely to make an impact. And that's David all day long. We had to cut our cloth, and I think it's pretty fair to say that it didn't click last night. But it's more harsh to judge a pairing based on 70mins of play in a cup game without taking into account the context around it.

[Del]

In the league game at Dagenham Dundo made a great difference when he came on as a sub. Winning all the headers and deft flicks which Omar couldn't do and didn't do on Saturday.Dundo was partnering Tommy of course.

Nowadays you wouldn't normally expect him to start but he is still a good impact player.

[Stewart]

For those who are interested here is a neutrals view of the game:



....This years Trophy meanderings continued with the first choice of the evening having no weather concerns and a pitch that emerged after 120 minutes with barely a mark on it. Dispense with the turgid first half and it was a decent contest....

Dagenham & Redbridge 3 v 2 Sutton United - FA Trophy 1st Round Replay
Prog 16 pages £2.00 - Att 417* - Admission £15.00

* With barely 50 people in the ground at 19.30 a mystery as to where they all appeared from. 49 visting supporters from South London did their best to introduce some semblance of atmosphere to the wide open spaces but largely failed.

....The best opening is to completely dispense with a first half which was instantly forgettable. Plenty of decent approach play largely from Dagenham ended with the complete failure of both teams to carve out any openings with the required 'telling pass'. What was the catalyst for a decent remainder of match was a goal that was completely out of context from what had gone on before with Joan Luque curling in perfectly from the edge of the area and leaving Tik Tzenev in the Sutton goal clutching at the still chilled Dagenham air. From thereon the contest largely improved albeit there were periods when the turgidity of the first half was repeated.

Sutton then levelled from an exquisitely struck penalty from Harry Beautyman into the near post corner, however questions would have to be asked of Kenny Clark who needlessly conceded pushing Omar Bugiel in the back in the furthest corner of the penalty area. Play then opened up however with both teams in similar positions in Conference National there was little difference between their play. Extra time could have been avoided, but Tzenev flew through the air to tip over a drive of power from Toby Stephenson for what was the best opportunity for the hosts. At the other end, I am sure that many of the vocal visiting supporters would rue the late miss from Louis John who from barely a yard out and with the goal opening in front of him, headed against the bar.

Now given that all previous Trophy replays seen on a Tuesday this season (at Ware, Enfield Town, Bedfont Sports and Hornchurch for anyone that is remotely interested) there was an inevitability of the additional thirty minutes, thus apologies had to be made to our grouping. However, in keeping with the second half, Extra Time was reasonably entertaining. Sutton for the first time took the lead with Bugiel forcing in from close range after Harry Seadon had parried a close range shot from Kyel Reid into his path. However, during the second half it was noted that the Sutton defence was particularly susceptible to crosses in from the flanks and this was where the goals that turned the contest into Dagenham's favour. Firstly a low cross from the right from James Dobson ended up via a deflection at the feet of Luque and he buried from close range and then from the opposite flank after an atypical flowing move Luque's cross was emphatically buried past Tzenev by Mitch Brundle. Thankfully, an offside flag denied Tommy Wright a late leveller that would have meant outcome by penalties. To conclude Dagenham just about deserved their passage to Meadow Lane for the 2nd Round by using the flanks to better effect.

Victoria Road is apart from the large seated stand behind the goal and the extended main stand essentially the same venue first visited over three and a half decades ago. For many years there was often 10+ visits a season but for a variety of reasons this was only the 4th trip to these parts in 12 years, though still noticeable is the high quotient of grumbling codgers which always seems to be a feature here.

Easy journey via the District Line en route, the journey home would have meant tight connections at either Upminster or Rainham with the possibility of being stuck at either for 29 minutes. Best approach was therefore to backtrack and have a swifty in the visited far too often environs of the Barking Dog which is too conveniently situated next door to the station. Indoors overlooking The Riverbank at 23.40...