Daggers down the Robins

Daggers down the Robins

An in-form Ashley Hemmings helped struggling Dagenham and Redbridge to leapfrog another out of form side in Paul Buckle’s Cheltenham town on Saturday at Victoria Road. The win for Wayne Burnett’s side has seen the Daggers climb to 19^th in the League Two table, the highest they’ve been since mid-October.

Veteran striker Jamie Cureton scored in this fixture last season in which the former Cheltenham front-man scored his 250^th career goal in the Robins’ 2-1 victory over the Daggers.

Cureton looked the main threat straight from the off and had the chance to open the scoring in the 13^th minute. Cureton finding himself one-on-one with keeper Carson on the left side of the box, only for Cureton to curl the ball wide of the far-post.

Cureton scores after his penalty was originally saved

However Cureton was not to be denied a goal against his former team. After a stalemate in the first half it took until the 55^th minute before midfielder Andre Boucaud was tripped by Craig Braham-Barrett. Jamie Cureton stepped-up to take the spot-kick, however Robins’ keeper Trevor Carson dived to his right to parry the shot only for Carson to be picking the ball out of his net moments later as Cureton was quickest off the mark with the follow up with a shot from the left-hand side of the box into the bottom corner.

Cheltenham have been struggling to gather results since the appointment of Paul Buckle looked down and out of the game, that was until the referee, Graham Horwood, awarded a controversial penalty after Daggers goalkeeper Mark Cousins was adjudged to have  brought down Jack Dunn in the six-yard box, even though the goalkeeper appeared to have reached the ball first. Dunn picked himself up to send the keeper the wrong way, putting his spot-kick into the right-side of the goal.

Hemmings finishes off a fantastic solo move

Like Dagenham’s penalty, Cheltenham seemed to gain confidence from their equaliser only for Wayne Burnett’s side to go back in-front with Ashley Hemmings beating two Robins defenders and finishing off the move by blasting the ball home past the trailing Carson.

And with Paul Buckle’s side pushing for a later equaliser the Daggers gave a killer blow to the away side with on-loan Watford striker Alex Jakubiak running through the Robins defenders before finishing at the near left post from a tight angle to secure an important three points for the Daggers, their first home win since a 1-0 victory over Bury earlier in the month.

Dagenham & Redbridge: Mark Cousins, Damian Batt, Scott Doe, Ayo Obileye, Joe Widdowson, Billy Bingham, Andre Boucaud, Luke Howell, Ashley Hemmings, Rhys Murphy (Alex Jakubiak, 36’), Cureton (Abu Ogogo, 91’).

Unused substitutes: Liam O’Brien, Brian Saah, Ashley Chambers, Joss Labadie, Jodi Jones.

Cheltenham Town: Trevor Carson, Lloyd Jones, Matt Taylor, Troy Brown, Craig Braham-Barrett, Kane Ferdinand, Matt Richards (Omari Sterling-James, 78’), Joe Hanks, Jake Gray, Jack Dunn (Harry Williams, 84’), Zack Kotwica.

Unused substitutes: Harry Reynolds, Lee Vaughan, Terry Gornell, Jack Deaman, Durrell Berry.

Two In, One Out At The Daggers

Two In, One Out At The Daggers

Dagenham and Redbridge were involved in the busy and stressful day that most managers dread that is transfer deadline day. Daggers manager Wayne Burnett gave no prior indications of any movement of any players prior to to deadline day, however his side were to be involved at very late notice in the window.

Alex Jakubiak scoring on his debut vs Bury

The first of the two signings that the Daggers made was that of Watford's Alex Jakubiak. Young striker come winger Jakubiak has impressed the Dagenham faithful so far since scoring on his debut against Bury in November and agreed on deadline day to extend his loan until the end of the season. With Wayne Burnett's side having gone on a recent goal drought Jakubiak may well have persuaded the Daggers manager to act fast to snap him up quickly after scoring an impressive goal in Dagenham's 3-1 victory over fellow strugglers Cheltenham at Victoria Road on Saturday.

The second signing that the Daggers managed to secure the services of was that of another young striker in Huddersfield Town's Daniel Carr. Carr started his career at Dulwich Hamlet in the Isthmian League where he scored 23 goals which prompted Huddersfield to sign him in 2013. Since being at the Terriers Carr has had spells with Fleetwood and most recently with Mansfield where he scored one goal in four appearances.

However, the Daggers weren't finished there. With just a short space of time left of the window there were various reports that the Daggers had accepted an undisclosed bid from League One side Oldham for the Daggers' top scorer last season in Rhys Murphy. Since joining the Daggers from Dutch side Telstar in 2013 Murphy has been under bids from higher Football League clubs with the likes of Peterborough and Barnsley being rejected by Murphy personally after the Daggers had accepted the offers. 

Zavon Hines Signs For Dagenham

Hines signing a one year deal with the Daggers

Zavon Hines Signs For Dagenham

Dagenham & Redbridge have today completed the signing of former West Ham and Bradford City Striker Zavon Hines.

Hines has penned a one year deal with the Daggers having played in two pre-season games for the East London side against Premier League new boys Crystal Palace and Championship outfit Charlton Athletic respectively.

Hines was offered a contract by the Daggers after those two games by Manager Wayne Burnett however Wayne Burnett did suggest that the discussions to sign Hines were hard when he told the official club website "After miscommunications and lengthy discussions with Zavon (Hines), I am convinced that he (Hines) wants to be a part of Dagenham & Redbridge."

Hines playing for West Ham

Even though Zavon Hines is only 24 he already has a lot of experience having played for West Ham, Coventry, Burnley and Bradford.

Career:

Hines began his career with West Ham United, making his first team debut for the Hammers in the League Cup second round against Macclesfield on the 27th August 2008 where he scored a goal.

However Hines made his first professional appearance for Championship side Coventry City. He made his first team debut for Coventry as an 87th minute substitute in their 3-1 loss against Plymouth Argyle in the Championship on the 29th March 2008.

However it didn't take long for Hines to make an impact for Coventry as he scored in the following game on the 1st of April in a 1-1 draw against Sheffield Wednesday.

Zavon Hines then rejected a new contract from West Ham in 2011 when he decided to instead sign a two year contract with Burnley in an attempt to play more regular first team football, however after just thirteen appearances for the club he was sent out on loan to League 1 side Bournemouth where he made eight appearances scoring one goal. At the end of the season he was released by Burnley as the club chose not to take up the option of the second year on Hines' contract and was therefore released.

At the start of the 2012/13 season Hines signed a one year contract with League 2 side Bradford City where he scored a handful of goals for the club. One of his most memorable moments for Bradford was coming on as a substitute in the League Cup final against Swansea City at Wembley where the Bantams lost 5-0.

Hines helped to see off Aston Villa in the semi final

However a better moment for Hines and Bradford was to get to Wembley again for the League 2 play off final where they won 3-0 against Northampton, however Hines was an unused substitute in that game as he had not found his goal scoring form in the games beforehand.

After that game he was released by the Bantams. At the start of the current 2013/14 season he began his pre-season with former loan club Coventry City against Oxford United, he then went on trial at the MK Dons, where he played 73 minutes in a game against a Tottenham XI on the 31st of July 2013 before being signed by the Daggers on the 22nd of August 2013.

Hines will hope to bring a bit of skill and pace to the already young Daggers squad for this League 2 campaign, in which the team are hopeful of a mid-table finish.

By Daniel Law