The game, at the Chigwell Construction Stadium, had a very competitive stalemate of a first half, but Tranmere persisted and walked away comfortable 4-0 winners after the second half.
Golden Opportunities Missed
Tranmere benefitted from second half braces from Andy Cook and James Norwood, to take their respective tallies for the season to 17 and 15. The Daggers, on the other hand, seemed very hesitant in front of goal, failing to capitalise on several golden opportunities in the first 45 minutes.
In-form Dagenham forward, Fejiri Okenabirhie, was marked out of the game at times, with no other Daggers players succeeding in providing the required flashes of quality needed to unlock the physical Tranmere back-line.
The defeat sees Dagenham sit in 11th position in the Vanarama National, with Tranmere rising to 3rd. The Daggers now find themselves nine points behind Dover Athletic, who occupy the final play-off position.
Unsatisfied John Still
Speaking after the game Dagenham manager, John Still was disappointed at his side not capitalising on their opportunities in the first half: “I think two headers should’ve put us in front, and in my opinion, I thought we were better than them.
He continued, “Second half they were better than us. If we take our chances it’s a different game in that second period, we could have come out without needing to be too adventurous with the aim instead to be disciplined and solid.”
The need for the Daggers to get a win is top of Still’s list: “We want to win, we don’t want to draw, we want to attack, which we feel we did, but it would have been nicer to have a base to not throw so many people forward in the second half.
“I thought we started well, but in the end they ran out worthy winners.”
Tough Test
Next up for Dagenham & Redbridge is Halifax Town on Tuesday night, followed by Bromley on Saturday, with both fixtures away from home. Tough tests remain ahead for the Daggers, however it feels, at this stage, like the club requires a period to rebuild and reinvest in order to pursue a promotion push next season.