Tuesday 3rd November 2009, Victoria Road, Kick-Off 7:45pm, Essex Senior Cup supported by BBC Essex Round Three.
Dagenham & Redbridge booked their place in the last 16 of the Essex Senior Cup supported by BBC Essex when a penalty shoot-out was all that could separate them from a spirited Great Wakering Rovers side.
Goalkeeper Chris Lewington was Dagenham’s hero, saving three out of seven Great Wakering spot-kicks in the shootout following a closely-fought and entertaining game. Dagenham started the much brighter of the two teams and were ahead in the 12th minute through Joao Carlos who calmly slotted the ball past ‘keeper Louis Godwin-Green after good initial passing from Steve Demetriou and Mark Nwokeji.
From then on, Dagenham dominated the half, with Graeme Montgomery proving especially dangerous, firing just over from 20 yards after the same number of minutes then heading over again two minutes later. Against the run of play, though, Wakering equalised two minutes before half time with their first shot on goal. A long ball over the top picked out Neil Richmond and his sweet half-volley from just inside the box left Lewington stranded in the Daggers’ goal.
A dull start to the second half was sparked into life after 15 minutes when the Daggers re-took the lead, Demetriou’s cross rifling past Godwin-Green, who was rooted to the spot. Though Rovers hit back nine minutes later, once again through Richmond, after some good build-up play initially resulted in the Rovers striker reacting first inside the box to score his second of the night.
The Coca-Cola League Two side took the lead for the third time after 79 minutes when Billy Bingham reacted first to knock home a loose ball in the box following a Montgomery free-kick. But Rovers continued to battle back and their efforts were rewarded in the third minute of added time as Ben Hudson’s free-kick from the left-hand side of the area beat everyone on its way into Lewington’s top-left corner.
Extra time lacked the action of the previous 90 minutes, with both teams looking tired and failing to produce any clear-cut chances, resulting in the game going to penalties and Nwokeji firing-in the winning spot-kick after Lewington’s earlier heroics. But, despite the defeat, Rovers Manager Iain O’Connell paid tribute to his side’s spirit and attitude after pegging Dagenham back three times, saying: “We’ve come from behind so many times this season and got a result. We nearly did it tonight but I want to thank the lads because their commitment has been 100%.”
Dagenham & Redbridge: Chris Lewington, Alex Bentley (Dennis Louis, 81), Alfie Wren, Ian Gayle, Harlee Dean, Billy Bingham, Steve Demetriou (Lee Wooten, 83), Tommy Tejan-Sie, Mark Nwokeji, Joao Carlos (Charlie Bland, 85), Graeme Montgomery. Unused Substitutes: Danny Sambridge, Jay Nash.
Great Wakering Rovers: Louis Godwin-Green, Josh Hull, Grant Khory-Davinson, Steve Heffer, Matt Toms, Ty Benjamin, Jimmy Webb (Stuart Judd, 90), Dan Trenkel, Ben Hudson, Neil Richmond, Michael Fox (Billy Johnson, 69) Unused Substitutes: Danny Pitts, Lewis Sparrow, Jack O’Connor.
Bookings: None.
Referee: John Hopkins.
Assistant Referees: Tom Brooks and Martin Quinn.
Attendance: 347.
Man-of-the-Match: Graeme Montgomery (Dagenham & Redbridge): A constant menace to the Rovers defence with great deliveries from set plays as well as a goal threat.