A 73rd-minute penalty from Dion Pereira saw National League side Dagenham & Redbridge defeat Crewe Alexandra in the 1st Round proper of the FA Cup.
Manager Lee Bell made 2 changes from last Saturday’s 3-1 home win against Tranmere Rovers as James Connolly and Lewis Billington came into the team for Zac Williams and Ryan Cooney, who both dropped down to the bench while Chris Long and Jack Powell return to the first team matchday squad after injury (the latter for the first time in a year).
The opening chance came in the 5th minute as Adrien Thibaut shot wide from outside the area before Ryan Hill hit a free-kick over the bar at the other end 8 minutes later. Junior Morias missed the target on 20 minutes before Billington would have a shot blocked by teammate Shilow Tracey a couple of minutes later.
Morais would test Filip Marschall just before the half-hour mark with the Villa loanee turning the ball behind for a corner before Owen Lunt had a shot saved by Daggers captain Elliot Justham 10 minutes before the break which was rushed by the young midfielder.
Substitute Kian Breckin would have an effort saved by Justham midway through the second half before Thibalt would have a shot blocked moments later. Dagenham would win a penalty on 72 minutes as a combination of Jamie Knight-Lebel and Marschall brought down forward Josh Umerah with Pereira beating Marschall into the keeper’s bottom left corner. Substitute Chris Long would volley over in the final minute as Dagenham go into the hat for tomorrow night’s draw where they will be ball number 28.
The next games for the Alex see them travel to Walsall next Saturday before hosting Notts County the following Saturday.
Final Thoughts:
That was not the result that the club would have wanted but a result that was deserved as Dagenham were the better side on the day.
In truth, the Alex didn’t get going and didn’t create a great deal in the game though the chance at the end that Long volleyed over couldn’t have fallen to a better player that you’d have fancied hitting the target.
Alexandra Stadium
FA Cup
2/11/2024 3:00 pm
Attendance: 3133
Referee: John Mulligan
| Crewe Alexandra | Dagenham & Redbridge | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pereira | |||||||
| Marschall | Justham (c) | ||||||
| Knight-Lebel | Rutherford | ||||||
| Demetriou (c) | Eastman | ||||||
| Connolly | Crichlow | ||||||
| Billington | Woodhouse | ||||||
| Tabiner | Phipps | ||||||
| Sanders | N'Guessan | ||||||
| Lunt | Pereira | ||||||
| Conway | Morias | ||||||
| Tracey | Hill | ||||||
| Thibaut | Umerah | 86 | |||||
Substitutes |
|||||||
| Booth | Vincent | ||||||
| Cooney | Remy | ||||||
| Williams | 61 | Rendall | |||||
| Long | 81 | Stephenson | |||||
| Bogle | 61 | Vigrass | |||||
| Holicek | 61 | Kalambayi | |||||
| Agius | |||||||
| Breckin | 63 | ||||||
| Powell | |||||||
Game Statistics |
||
| 7 | Goal attempts | 10 |
| 2 | On Target | 3 |
| 9 | Corners | 1 |
| 16 | Fouls | 12 |
| 1 | Yellow Cards | 1 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 52 | % | 48 |