After a difficult start to life under Peter Taylor, life seems to be slowing turning itself around. New investors, new signings have brought renewed optimism to the Chigwell Construction Stadium.
New owners Peter B. Freund and Craig Unger were in attendance as Dagenham tasted victory for the first time in nearly a month.
Long Wait
Daggers Boss Peter Taylor was visibly more at ease in the aftermath of his side’s 2-1 victory against high flying Harrowgate. Taylor said:
“I was fantastic to get a result against a really good team, I think we showed during the first half that we can be a very good team as well. I think our first-half performance was excellent, I thought we played some good football, created some good chances and scored two very well taken goals. So at half time I’m delighted.
“But of course you can appreciate the season we’ve had, we’re not used to being 2-0 up at half time, so the second half for us is a different type of situation. We had to not make mistakes, we had to make Harrowgate earn anything they tried to get and to be fair it was a very nervous second half for us. But a very good team in Harrowgate show why they’re up in the table.
“I also think we had quite a lot of players that probably didn’t need the full 90 minutes, we had a lot of players that haven’t played a lot of football and a lot had to go a play 90 today.”
It was the Daggers first victory in eight games on the weekend, also ending a run of five straight defeats in the National League. Taylor believes the win could be a springboard to a good run:
“If I was a player out there, playing a team that is third in the division and you’ve just beaten them, that’s a great positive situation so it would lift me – it has lifted me as a manger. I know that we have another difficult game on Tuesday night, it’s a tough league – we know that.”
Debut Delight
Only conceding one goal to a somewhat free-scoring Harrowgate side was the icing on the cake:
“I’m pleased with that,” Taylor said. “It took some good saves, some great challenges and some great headers, so it needed all of that – the boys were fantastic in their effort and desire to try and win the match.
“We’re over the moon at getting the win, it’s a very important win for us because we haven’t had many this year. We’ve started to bring some new players in now, so the squad and the team get stronger. Hopefully we’re looking upwards.”
All three of Dagenham’s new signings, Angelo Balanta, Nathan Smith and Emmanuel Onariase, started the game against Town on Saturday and Taylor was pleased with the performances he saw:
“All of them have played hardly any football lately, three players there – we also had our right-back, our captain [Ben Nunn] that’s had a lot of football in a short space of time, so he’s another one that probably didn’t need 90 minutes.
“The new players, I thought they came in and done great. Balanta, he’s been a bit of class, a bit of quality and I thought Smith and Onariase were excellent until they got tired then it was tough for them, but great debuts.”
The Daggers face Dover Athletic on Tuesday night, with their eyes set on another victory to take them out of the relegation zone for the first time this season.
