Martin Voller looks Daggers at a defeated Wycombe Wanderers.
Sky Bet League Two
Dagenham & Redbridge 2 – 0 Wycombe Wanderers
Dagenham and Redbridge maintained their impressive home form, defeating a resilient Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday 30th November.
Afolabi Obafemi put Dagenham ahead midway through the first half. The Daggers doubled their lead straight after the restart when Rhys Murphy scored from the spot. Murphy had been hauled down by Anthony Stewart who was shown a red card.
Despite being a man up, manager Wayne Burnett’s side were second best for the rest of the match. But they held on long enough to secure their sixth home win of the season, putting them only two points away from the play-off places.
Burnett made two changes to the side which had picked up a point against AFC Wimbledon in the week. Abu Ogogo returned from suspension and replaced the injured Billy Bingham, while Scott Doe took Luke Wilkinson’s place in defence.
After more than 20 uneventful minutes, the Daggers scored with the first real chance of the match. Murphy did well to find Obafemi whose expert turn and decisive finish beat Wycombe goalkeeper Matt Ingram from a tight angle.
Dagenham almost scored again on the half hour, when Luke Howell’s well-timed pass put Rhys Murphy through on goal. But the ex-Arsenal man’s first time strike crept just past the far post.
Wycombe turned up the pressure and came close to equalising with five minutes of the first half remaining. But referee Keith Stroud ruled out Anthony Stewart’s close-range header for a push on Doe.
Gareth Ainsworth’s side could not recreate the pressure they produced prior to the interval. Dagenham burst out of the traps and doubled their lead inside the first two minutes.
After a well executed through ball from Medy Elito, Stewart fouled Murphy in the box. Stroud awarded a penalty to the Daggers and gave the Wycombe defender his marching orders. Murphy, League Two’s top scorer, stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way to score his tenth goal of the season.
Later, Hines had the ball in the net when he tapped home after Ingram failed to hold on to Elito’s drive, but the former West Ham man was offside.
Wycombe continued to cause problems for the hosts. Paris Cowan-Hall forced a strong save from Chris Lewington before Charles Dunne’s header struck the post in the 89th minute.
But to the delight of the Victoria Road faithful the Daggers managed to see out six minutes of injury-time. This win keeps them just outside the play-off places.