Notts County had their historic 25-match unbeaten run stopped by an unlikely defeat at the hands of Dagenham and Redbridge. Following the win Dagenham and Redbridge, are now just 3 points closer to a playoff spot. Whereas, Notts County remain at top of the league but are at high risk of losing the number one position.
Notts County played Dagenham and Redbridge at their home ground in Nottingham, which was attended by 7,441 fans, including the 120 fans for Dagenham and Redbridge. The two teams’ last visit with each other was in September 2022 in the National League, when Notts County beat Dagenham and Redbridge 5-0 at home for the Magpies.
Notts County started the match off strong with Ruben Rodriquez scoring the first goal of the match for the Magpies from 20 yards from the goal. Rodriguez was signed in 2020 and became Notts County’s first Portuguese player, he has now scored his 14th goal of the season.
Shortly before the halftime whistle Dagenham and Redbridge hit Notts County on a counterattack, the attack was clinically finished by Captain Angelo Balanta, who was perfectly assisted by Sam Ling. The breakaway goal took the match to 1-1 before halftime. Leaving the Notts County fans feeling uneasy heading into the half time break.
After halftime, Notts County fans were left feeling frustrated and infuriated after a foul was made on top goal scorer, Macaulay Langstaff, Referee Lewis Smith waved away penalty appeals as County pushed to try and find a winning goal. The Magpies had officially run out of luck and were running out of time to score against the Daggers.
To make matters worse for the Magpies, Inih Effieng scored the winning goal for the Daggers with just 4 minutes of the match remaining. The former Magpie’s striker, who only joined the Daggers in early February of this year struck the underside of the crossbar and scored a mighty goal the final score came to 2-1.
After the final whistle was blown, County defender Aden Baldwin received a red card from referee Lewis Smith, due to an altercation that arose in the tunnel. This will result in Aden Baldwin missing Notts County’s next three matches, which could see an impact on the team.
An extremely disappointing and shocking result for Notts County as was their first home defeat of the season. This result leaves Notts County vulnerable with Wrexham close behind in the league and still having two games in hand left to play. With Wrexham now just 1 point behind the Magpies following the Dragons 3-1 win over Dorking. Wrexham will only need to take 1 point from each of their two games in hand to overtake Notts County in the title race.
This result could have a detrimental impact on the outcome of Notts County’s entire season, as it hands Wrexham greater power in the title race. Moreover, failure to secure the league title would leave the Magpies to have to chance their luck in the dreaded play-offs. Once again after they failed to gain promotion last season after an unfortunate play-off campaign.
Whether it be through automatic promotion or winning the play-offs, Notts County will hope this season will be the one that ends their four-year absence from the football league.
Since Luke Williams joined Notts County as their manager in 2022, Williams has gone on to receive the honour of the National League manager of the month in October 2022.
Williams was seen after the match to be composed however disheartened by the final score he said:
“I think the second half performance was fantastic, we threw everything that we possibly could… the first half performance wasn’t terrible but a little bit slow at times, one or two mistakes… a bit of tension again we conceded a goal on the counterattack…”
“It’s difficult to lose, but to lose in a game where we done so many things to be able to put the game safely out of reach for the opposition is difficult to accept.”
Dagenham and Redbridge remained focused in the match after losing their manager the night before, at 9:50 pm on Friday the 24th of February. Former manager Daryl McMahon became manager for Dagenham and Redbridge in January 2020 where he spent just over three years working with the team before a mutual agreement was met before the fixture at Meadow Lane.
The caretaker managers: Steve Gritt and Dave Jupp for Dagenham and Redbridge have stepped up, whilst they are on the lookout to find a replacement for Daryl McMahon. The club made an official statement on the departure of the former head coach:
“It is with great disappointment that the Club must announce that it has mutually agreed to part company with its manager, Daryl McMahon… Following discussions between Daryl & the Board, it has been agreed that this is the right time for a change.”
Caretaker manager Dave Jupp, saw the team through to victory and spoke more about the outcome of the game he said:
“What a great finish from Enih, he’s got that capability and luckily he took it but the first goal was an outstanding counter-attack.”
Manny Onariase, a defender for the Daggers, expressed his relief from the match, and also his gratitude towards the former head coach and manager Daryl McMahon he said:
“On a whole, happy with the result it was a very professional performance, we stuck together as a team, feeling glad that we got the three points… It is really strange, we all owe it to the gaffer, I feel like he’s put a lot into us, and this performance was a thank you back to the gaffer.”
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