First choice goalkeeper Elliot Justham was kept on the bench as John Still decided to give Mark Cousins some extra playing time.
The opening couple of minutes saw both teams battling it out in the centre of the park and it wasn’t until the eighth minute that Daggers forward, Jordan Maguire-Drew set his sight on goal after a bit of individual brilliance, however the shot didn’t do it justice.
This ‘lack of quality’ was something Dagenham Assistant manager, Darren Currie picked up on after the game. Speaking to the Barking and Dagenham Post he said, “We asked for more intensity in our play and though we offered that, we still lacked quality.”
Currie knows that it’s something that has to change, and quickly, “We started very slowly in the first half and we had a similar start in the previous round against Wealdstone, so it was something we highlighted to the boys in the week and beforehand.” He said.
Danger Man
With 19 minutes gone, Corey Whitely was found open in the middle of the six yard box with a great cross from Luke Guttridge, but Steven Drench denied the forward with a brilliant save that ricocheted onto the crossbar.
The Shaymen were starting to look like they were going to cause the upset of the day, as, “danger man” Tom Denton towered over the defender and headed the ball on target, but Cousins was there again with a brilliant dive and caught the ball.
Seconds before the half-time whistle, Corey Whitely was played through on goal, but the shot was a poor one and easy for the Shaymen goal keeper.
Coming into the second half, the visitors came out even stronger, Denton had a couple of chances to give his side the lead.
There were a couple of chances for Maguire-Drew, just after the half hour mark, the first one was a shot from 25 yards out, and the ball was then deflected into the hands of Drench.
The second came from the free kick, which Maguire-Drew won, he then came very close to out-beating Drench with a low curled shot round the wall, but the keeper read it well and managed to get his hands on the ball and palm it out for a corner.
Lacking In Quality
Currie went on to say that they’d given Halifax too much respect, “ [we] allowed Halifax to get comfortable at our ground and we found it hard to break them down.”
The game followed up with both clubs still battling it out in midfield until the full-time whistle, which means that there will be a replay, where the Daggers will need to travel up to West Yorkshire on 15th November.
Daggers: Couisins, Widdowson, Doe, Robinson, Raymond, Hawkins, Maguire-Drew (74’ Sam Ling), Boucaud, Guttridge (85’ Paul Benson), Whitely, Staunton
Unused subs: Justham, Hyde, White, Mitchell
FC Halifax Town: Drench, Roberts, Wilde, King, Hotte, Garner, Macdonald, Lynch, Denton, Sinnott, Simmons (75’ Hibbs)
Unused subs: Nicholson, Peniket, Moyo, Burrow, Kosylo, Barrows
Attendance: 1,387 (219 away fans)