The Daggers had goalkeeper Tony Roberts to thank for keeping them alive in the first half against Yeovil
"Humps for �-mile," says a road-sign near Victoria Road ? possibly indicating a route once used for testing Ford suspensions ? but none of them matched the hump of Tony Roberts, the Dagenham & Redbridge goalkeeper, after a 2-1 win over Yeovil in which he was named man of the match. The award was unarguable, the response typical of one of the game's most durable and eccentric No1s. Roberts is 41.
He alone kept the Daggers alive before half-time, which they reached at 1-1 after scoring first against the one-way run of play. Romain Vincelot headed in Darren Currie's corner, his ninth league goal of the season, before Oliver Johnson ran clear of Scott Doe's lost footing and showed his Williams team-mates, Andy and Sam, how to handle the Macbeth moment, one on one with the Daggers' keeper. Dag & Red surprised Yeovil with their raised game after the interval and Jon Nurse, receiving from Bas Savage, turned Max Ehmer to stab in the winner. With Walsall and Bristol Rovers losing, the Daggers climbed two places off the foot of the table.
Roberts, slumped in the stand later, was not to be humoured. Nor was his beef that "that was the worst first half by the team I've played in". He has played in a few, too ? 488 in 11 seasons. "I've got the hump," he went on. He had come in at 10.30am to undo the effects of Friday's muddy training, "to get myself in the right frame of mind. My legs were heavy. I didn't prepare properly. I was disappointed with my kicking." His reactions brooked no argument, high and low, right and left, block and tip, when his outfield players looked also to be feeling the day before.
In one sequence he dropped sharply to his right to push away a close-range backheel that diverted a cross-shot, then rose to fly to his left and touch away a bullet heading for the top corner. Wayne Burnett, assistant manager, said: "Tony pulled out three very good saves and one of them was top drawer." Roberts said: "As long as the ball keeps hitting me, I'll keep playing." Understudies have grown old waiting, which is what he feared doing at Queens Park Rangers, where he spent 11 seasons and made 17 Premiership appearances.
Dag & Red are the upshot of a trail of mergers. Their past includes Walthamstow Avenue, with whom Trevor Bailey won the Amateur Cup in 1952. Their present began in 1992. Entering the League in 2007, they had to become a company limited by guarantee. "We were a members' club before, like Barcelona," says Steve Thompson, managing director. The likeness ends there. John Still, their first and last manager, likes Route One. "Other clubs buy a cake," he says. "We buy the ingredients" ? then put them in the mixer. With Savage for Marvin Morgan he replaced one beanpole with another. It produced the decisive goal in two minutes. Savage deftly made room for the cross. The fans, who do not care for Still's direct approach, were not complaining.
The club are still pinching themselves in League One. Last season they came seventh in League Two with four wins in their last five games, set a first-leg play-off record by beating Morecambe 6-0 and defeated Rotherham 3-2 at Wembley. This season they won two of the first 15, starting with their neighbours Leyton Orient, then three of the next 10, all far away (Yeovil, Carlisle and Hartlepool), while losing the other seven. They have been in the bottom four since early October, drawing the lowest average home attendance.
Concerns that this might be hit by the Olympic Stadium's future in a top club's hands were easily answered on Saturday. There were hardly enough to be reduced; and, even if the ball is too much in the sky, they like the intimacy of the touchline, where corrugated iron is a luxury roof and tracts of track would be anathema. Away supporters get the new goal-back stand. West Ham's half-time score ? three down ? got a ribald cheer. Dag & Red are proud and happy where they are. "Five seasons ago we were playing Canvey Island; now we're playing Southampton," said Still.
"It's a fantastic three points for us," said Burnett, "and it certainly didn't look that at half-time when we were fortunate to be in the game." Yeovil's Andrew Tutte and Paul Wotton, both on loan, thought far too quickly in midfield. The Daggers looked made of rubber. "We changed a few things," said Burnett. Driven by Vincelot, they played 4-3-3 instead of 4-4-2.
They have now picked up seven points from three games, their best run, and have matches in hand on most around them. "The gaffer says they're all tough, all Cup finals from now," said Currie, 36 and nephew of England's Tony of old. The first of them is tomorrow at Walsall. Whatever happens in May, Dagenham & Redbridge are well prepared for the worst. Their main sponsors are funeral directors.
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