United named Tom Cowan as skipper with Karl Hawley relegated to the bench and Craig Farrell coming into the starting line-up. Simon Grand was reunited with Danny Livesey in central defence after England duty in mid-week. Tony Boot had the first opening in the fifth minute when he fired a shot a yard wide with his right foot from the edge of the area. Then Lee Goodwin tried his luck from 30 yards on 19 minutes after Paul Arnison slipped outside the box. Glennon had it covered as it flew half a yard wide of the target. A clever bit of play by Farrell a minute later brought a foul from Anwar Uddin who went into the ref's notebook. United went close when Murphy set up Arnison who produced a first-time volley that Tony Roberts saved well. Danny Livesey received a knock in the face and had to go off near the interval for repairs. United broke upfield quickly and Cowan had a curling shot that went close to the outside of the post. Livesey came back on and made a good block to deny Goodwin as injury time began. Half-time brought a goalless scoreline which was a pretty fair reflection on the balance of play. Daggers top scorer Chris Moore made a decent turn in the opening seconds of the second period to leave Brian Shelley struggling but fired well over. United won a corner 3 minutes later but Grand couldn't get a shot in and the ball was cleared. Boot again had a chance on 56 minutes but he dithered when inside the box and was tackled. United's midfield were starting to get more into the game with Lumsdon looking particularly dangerous, but on 68 minutes it was the home side that broke the deadlock. Paul Bruce struck a good shot past Glennon after United failed to clear a loose ball. Carlisle almost got back into it when Lumsdon's cross was met by Vieira but Foster made a great block. A Clark shot was met by the firm form of Livesey and moments later Hawley came on for Arnison as Paul Simpson gambled on three up front. Farrell departed on 74 minutes to be replaced by Glenn Murray. Moore threatened to extend Dagenham's lead with 11 minutes left but Glennon made a top save. Steve Clark made a long run only to see the ball hacked away by Grand. A David Beharral shot brought a deflection away for a corner with seconds left in normal time. Murray and Hawley set up Beharral with seconds of injury time left but he headed over. Al's verdict: Awful. Defeat to Dag & Red just about sums up how far we've slid. Without Kevin Gray we look a rudderless outfit. Another poor game from an entertainment point of view with the home team's long throw-in tactic giving us plenty of trouble while our own approach play was lacking with long balls aimed at small strikers proving counter-productive. I feel rather sorry for Simmo who has matters taken out of his hands with the injuries to Gray and Cowan, plus the flood problems at Brunton Park. It's put our whole season under threat and it will take an iron will to sort out the mess. |
