The New Year arrived with windy and wet weather conditions but it was Dagenham who left with the points after two second-half goals handed them the victory.
Four changes to the Fleet’s starting lineup saw Rakish Bingham, Franklin Domi and Jez Davies return while Mustapha Olagunju returned from his loan spell at Hemel Hempstead Town. Ben Chapman also returned to the bench following a short absence with an injury.
There was minimal action in the opening stages of the match and Ryan Hill’s free-kick was a comfortable take for Mark Cousins before Josh Rees and Dylan Stephenson tried to fire home in a crowded Fleet box.
At the other end, Rakish Bingham dragged an effort wide when he failed to get a clean connection inside the box. Dominic Poleon made a run through the middle from Bingham’s well-aimed pass that saw him beat his man but he couldn’t beat the offside flag and Fleet’s promising attack was halted.
Hill came the closest to securing the lead when the Daggers No.10 found himself one-on-one with Mark Cousins but as he tried to lift the ball over the former Dagenham keeper, Cousins stuck out a leg to make an important stop.
Luke O’Neill tried his luck from a tight angle but that effort was deflected wide for a corner as Fleet gradually upped the possession count to gain more of a foothold in the match.
Appeals for a red card were made by Fleet supporters when a heavy challenge from Trent Rendall on Todd Kane only resulted in yellow as he took out his opposite number with a powerful run across the Fleet man to stop his progress. Davies drilled a low shot towards goal from the resulting free-kick which was blocked by the Dagenham defence.
The Fleet began the second-half on the front foot with a familiar link-up between Poleon and Bingham. Poleon picked out his partner inside the area but the Fleet’s No.9 dragged that one wide as well.
The Daggers found the opener through Shiloh Remy on 55 minutes with a curling strike from the edge of the area that snuck up and into the top left corner. Fleet responded with a couple of attacks into the visitors’ box but nothing quite threatened Justham in goal.
The lead was doubled on 65 minutes, this time through Jake Hessentaler. A rather softly awarded free-kick was sent over and the ball wriggled through the gloves of Cousins via a deflection and in.
A handful of half chances from the Fleet in the closing stages resulted in Jephte Tanga getting a couple of shots off from Kane’s deliveries. Maxx Manktelow threw himself at a header that went wide while a late shot from Alex Aoraha wasn’t clinical enough as the Daggers held off to secure their second away win of the season.
EUFC: Cousins, O’Neill (Aoraha 69), Kane, Olagunju, Cordner, Edser, Domi, Davies (Manktelow 62), Bingham (Thomas 69), Poleon, Cosgrave (Tanga 62). Subs not used: Firth, Chapman, Tanner
DRFC: Justham, Hessenthaler, Rendall, Ling, Phipps, N’Guessan (Harrack 72), Rees (Vigrass 84), Hill (Adigun 87), Remy (Rutherford 80), Stephenson, Kalambayi (Bakre 72). Subs not used: Harvey.
Attendance: 1,395 (245 away)
Photos: ©EUFC/Dave Plumb
