Dagenham’s winless streak continues

Dagenham haunted by former boss on Halloween weekend, as Youcef Dahmani reports.

Former Daggers boss John Still came back to haunt his former side, as Dagenham and Redbridge lost 2-0 at home to Luton Town.

The result leaves the Daggers without a league home win since April and firmly rooted to the bottom of the table, while Luton move up to 13th.

Luton secured the victory with two great performances from Luke Guttridge and Alex Lawless, who both scored and assisted each other, easing the visiting team to victory.

The visitors took the lead in the 41st minute after Guttridge ran onto a lobbed pass from Lawless where he lifted the ball over Daggers keeper Liam O’Brien to score his first goal of the season. They doubled their lead in the 65th minute when Guttridge turned provider for Lawless, who put the ball into the net past two helpless defenders on the line.

Penalty shouts

The first real chance of the game came when Dagenham’s goalkeeper, O’Brien, was tested by Jack Marriot’s powerful shot from outside the box.

It wasn’t until the 20th minute when Dagenham created their first chance. Ashley Hemmings had a shot from outside the area which went high and wide into the stands.

It was nearing the half hour mark when Jamie Cureton had another shot from outside the box, which looked to be curling into the top right hand corner however, Luton’s Mark Tyler made simple work of it and plucked it from the air.

Nearing half time the visitors were looking closer to scoring and with only five minutes left of the half, Guttridge, who came close to scoring minutes before from a free kick, put them 1-0 up. Alex Lawless lobbed the ball over the top of the Daggers defence finding Guttridge who chipped the ball over O’Brien.

Dagenham manager, Wayne Burnett, felt the goal should have been disallowed, “It was a foul he jumped straight into him and you know… he has not seen it, but that happens, it happens in football doesn’t it?”

Daggers lost youngster Jodi Jones five minutes into the second half after he picked up a knock from a challenge, with QPR loanee, Jake Mulraney, replacing him.

Pressure mounts

The Daggers had a weak penalty shout when Ayo Obileye went down in the box, but the referee booked for simulation. When Burnett was asked his view on the penalty he said, “ I thought initially that it was a penalty, but I spoke to the referee after the game, straight away and he said that he didn’t touch him.”

The Hatters then doubled their lead five minutes after the hour. Luke Guttridge passed the ball across the penalty area finding Alex Lawless, who put it past two daggers players who stood helpless on the line.

Wayne Burnett went on to say about what his thoughts were on the goal, “That’s the fine lines isn’t it, fine margins, he’s gone through one on one with their goalkeeper and you expect him to score but he hasn’t and they’ve literally gone the other end and its 2-0 and its pretty much game over.”

Burnett realises the pressure is on and stressed that, “number one priority is that the club have to stay in the football league.”

Dagenham’s next game is a First Round FA Cup clash against fellow League Two side Morecambe on Saturday, before a league clash against the high flying Oxford United.

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Hi I'm Youcef Dahmani, I am a sports reporter/editor and I have been writing articles and features on Dagenham & Redbridge. I work in the press box and have been regularly attending matches for the past two seasons. MMA is another sport that I cover, reporting on live events inside the east London region and have created multimedia pieces in this field. During this time I have met a wide range of people within the sport and have interviewed a wide range of people including Darren Stewart, an east London fighter, who has recently made it into the UFC. About me I am studying in my final year of Sports Journalism at the University of East London. Sport has been something which I have always had a passion for and seek to pursue a career within sports media. I am a multilingual journalist that likes to expand on sport outside the UK.

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