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Orient - FA Cup Qualifying 4th round
It was a
Saturday afternoon like no other as the Daggers entertained local rivals Leyton
Orient in the FA Cup. 911 Orient fans packed, the newly renamed A13 steel
stand, to the rafters as they witnessed an evenly contested match. Dagenham
& Redbridge got the game underway and started liveliest as they began to
spray it out wide well. However, the first threat was from Bonne, but his shot
was well blocked by the Daggers skipper Scott Doe. Ferrier’s long-range effort
was the home side’s first glimpse of an early lead as he nearly caught Grainger
off guard and forced a save.
After three
consecutive corners conceded by Orient, one of them conceded by former Daggers
man Widdowson, there was still no early lead. Dagenham were dominating and
bombarding the visitors in the early stages but not taking their chances. Ferrier
was carelessly fouled on the halfway line; the Orient player was consequently
booked for his troubles. Shortly after, Craig Robson did very well to stop an
Orient attack with a very solid tackle. Yet again a Daggers player was fouled
on halfway, this time as Whitely was on the break Lawless prevented him from
progressing any further. It looked like the hosts were going to regret their
missed chances as Orient began to creep back into the game. The visitors had a
huge chance as the half reached just over halfway when Bonne and White both hit
the underside of the bar in an attempt to get on the end of the free kick.
Ferrier came
close again as his low driven shot forced Grainger to get down low and stop the
well struck effort. It was Morgan Ferrier yet again who was causing a problem,
as his play called for some great defending by Judd to prevent a 1 on 1 with
Grainger. After consecutive corners from both sides including one that left
Grainger to panic, the referee blew for half-time. Neither side would have been
concerned about their first half display, as both sides had promising spells in
an even half where both sides could have gone in front.
Orient got
the eagerly anticipated second half underway however it was the hosts who had the
lion share of possession. It was Lawless again who brought down a Daggers
player and finally he was booked for an offence on Romain. The man who was
fouled by Lawless nearly put his side in front as his effort just wide as he
looked to head in Howells’ set piece. Dagenham began to pile on the pressure as
Ferrier again tried to nestle his effort in the corner, but his shot was just
wide of the mark. As Lawless again conceded a free kick in a dangerous position
Whitely failed to make the opportunity count as he put it sky high, it was poor
from him. A well worked attack was broken down and led to an Orient breakaway
but it was dealt with well by the Dagenham defence, this had been a common
theme however throughout the match.
You felt
that the Daggers were running out of chances as attack after attack they failed
to make anything count, and up the other end Bonne headed just over from a good
cross. Whitely’s ambitious effort up the other end troubled Grainger as he had
to tip it over the bar. With the home advantage Dagenham were eager to break
the deadlock at Victoria Road with Whitely’s ball just not reaching Ferrier and
Romain going at the visitors’ defence, they didn’t want a replay. On the other hand,
Leyton Orient’s plan seemed to be working, with a home replay in their sights
it looked like they wanted to sit back and try and catch Dagenham on the break
as the pressure mounted.
An Orient
breakaway resulted in Judd putting it into row Z as he looked to be the hero
for the travelling side. After a series of efforts it was Dagenham’s finishing
that let them down in the end as in the closing stages many shots came to
nothing and Craig Robson’s defending stopped, major threat Bonne, from scoring
right at the death. After competent performances from both sides it will be a
replay on Tuesday at the Matchroom stadium as the local rivals will battle it
out for a place in the FA Cup first round.
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