Thursday 16 June 2011

The League Awaits !

After a terrible away cup draw, once again an away game, but this time against Bournemouth rather than the usual folk that we play, we'll brighten you all up and take a look at five of the games you won't want to miss this season.

First off is the inevitable one, Crawley Town. The main reason of course is Steve Evans, he returns to Victoria Road and will receive a "welcome", I think that's the best way to put it. Having never been forgotten for his Boston antics, he still has one hell of an attitude and is a man no one in the Football League likes, but even less welcome at Victoria Road than anyone else. There are also a number of other sub plots, the fact that he's signing our "old stock" so to speak. They have captured former Daggers striker Wesley Thomas who is being paid exorbitant amounts of money to rival Matt Tubbs, but then there's John Akinde. John Akinde is sure to be a bench warmer there in my opinion and it was a silly move if he wants to be playing on a regular basis but the pay packet probably doesn't lie. The other sub plot is that of Crawley physio Mark Stein. A former Dagenham & Redbridge player, he is now their physio and it will be curious what kind of reaction he gets from our fans should he make an appearance treating an injury. Both the home & away games will be spectacular I'm sure with some fireworks at both. The last meeting between the two teams was a 0-0 at the Broadfield Stadium in 2007 season, but I'm confident there will be a lot more goals this time around.

The next is Barnet, considered by many as the main derby game this season. This one has always been hard to predict, with a defeat usually coming at Underhill in recent times and more positive results at Viccy Road. Former Dagenham & Redbridge captain Anwar Uddin now plys his trade for the Bees in North London so that's one to watch out for. This is usually our League Two derby and it's definitely one of the favourites in the fixture list. The usual thrill of a soggy day on the Underhill terracing is what being a Dagger is about and lets not forget the football played on the pitch. It's difficult to tell where both sides will be in the league but depending on what time of the season this is played, it could mean a whole lot more. You'd guess Barnet will once again be scrapping with relegation whilst the Daggers could be anywhere, up the top I'd prefer, but it's a real possibility to be at the bottom or in the middle. The last time we faced eachother was at Victoria Road in 2010, the Daggers coming away with a convincing 4-1 victory, the pick of the goals from Josh Scott, let's hope he can provide the ammunition again this time around.

Shrewsbury Town is a game that I'll be looking for, it always provides goals or has something at stake. The heartache of the 2008/2009 season is still something people look back on when they pipped us to the play offs to further increase the rivalry. Not to be outdone, we decided to get them back at the start of the 2009/2011, winning in a 5-0 rout, 4 of which were scored by Paul Benson who had been approached by them in the Summer. This year it may once again mean something and the rivalry is stronger than ever, both teams have won by 5 goals to nil in recent times and I wouldn't bet against it happening again. Click Here To See The Daggers Spank Shrewsbury 5-0 On This Link.

Southend United , a derby game that has never really had any intensity, mainly because we haven't played them in the League. Various cup meetings & friendly meetings have seen both teams come out on top a couple of times, the most memorable the 5-2 defeat at Roots Hall where Tony Roberts got sent off. It's one to watch out for, a derby game that has real potential and it's by the seaside so if we get fed up of the football, we can take a long walk off an even longer pier!

Finally it is the one, the only, Morecambe. Possibly the best game of the season, because it's a friendly rivalry. Last season was the first season in quite a while we hadn't played eachother, and I certainly missed them. The everlasting memory of Morecambe will of course be the Play Off Semi Finals, two games that will forever live in both the clubs histories. Whether it was the 6-0 drubbing we gave them at home or the fitting end to Christie Park, a David Artell winner to send the Shrimps out in glory & happiness. This is a club much like our own in so many ways and a trip to the Globe Arena should be good fun, but whatever the results with Morecambe our affinity with them will never dwindle. A great club with great fans and a fitting way to end this blog.

Also look out for the other cup draws where we'll inevitably get MK Dons in at least one and whoever is leading League One in the other.

Thanks for reading this shortish Blog as we've been a bit short of material and I look forward to seeing who we get on the opening day tomorrow!

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