On Saturday September 26th Hampton & Richmond Borough will travel to East London to take on 3rd-place Dagenham & Redbridge.
Last time out, the Beavers suffered a 1-3 defeat to Step 4 Crowborough Athletic midweek in an FA Cup Second Qualifying Round replay. After going behind early Jasper Mather levelled the tie once again with his fifth goal in four games, but two second half strike’s from Elliott Duncan meant the Crows reached the third qualifying round for only the second time in their history.
Dagenham were also forced to a replay by another Step 4 side, Waltham Abbey. After a 1-1 draw away from home the Daggers took care of business at Victoria Road, winning 3-0 courtesy of an olimpico from Kane Crichlow in the first half followed by two goals in second-half stoppage time.
In the league, the East London outfit enjoyed a flying start to the season, winning their opening four fixtures by an aggregate score of 7-2 but have since seen their momentum slowed since the beginning of September, yet to win in the league after a draw away to Horsham and a pair of 1-0 losses to Dover Athletic and Weston-Super-Mare respectively.
The Daggers have shared their eight goals between six scorers and boast plenty of attacking talent to be wary of.
Former Beaver Davide Rodari’s qualities will be well known to Beveree faithful, and he has two goals and an assist in nine matches so far earning him the title joint top scorer with Noah Coppin in the league for Dagenham.
Other forwards such as the vastly experienced Andy Caroll, last season’s National League South Young Player of the Season Wiktor Makowksi, and former Maidstone United, Crawley and Chelmsford City winger Anthony Papadopoulos are yet to find the back of the net in the league but are always dangerous.
At the other end of the pitch, they have kept four clean sheets in nine games, with experienced goalkeeper Nathan Ashmore being protected by a backline which features two former Hemel Hempstead players Jack Bateson and Samuel Adenola, brought along by new gaffer Lee Allinson from his former employer.
Last season The Beavers and the Daggers had a win apiece in the head-to-head, with Paul Field’s memorable 97th minute header proving to be one of the moments of the season, and an away tie which ended in a 3-1 loss which was overshadowed by the match being streamed on minority owner KSI’s youtube channel for free in a National League first.
The only other meeting between the two sides (since Dagenham and Redbridge emerged out of a club merger in 1992) was a 3-0 FA Cup defeat at Beveree Stadium when the Daggers were in League Two.
Let’s hope for a win to get the season back on track!
Up the Beavers!
We will be back at Beveree Stadium on Saturday October 10th when we face Ebbsfleet United. Secure your tickets for that one HERE!
By Jack Lonergan