Nervous City grab vital Dagenham win

By Nathan Jackson
January 26 2008

Goals from Ben Wright and Dany N'Guessan were enough to see off Dagenham, but it was far from a convincing display from the Lincoln City players. City were clearly suffering from nerves as they struggled to create many chances, with only the returning N'Guessan's last minute sitter calming the nerves at Sincil Bank following a set up from Mark Stallard.

Dagenham had a promising opening to the game when they forced a third minute corner, failing to create a goal from the chance. Ben Wright gave away a free kick from an attacking position when he fouled a defender from Geen's cross.

Neither side could create any decent chances, although Forrester almost caught Thompson off guard as his shot almost looped over him. The striker then had a shot deflected and City had a corner. It was surprisingly played to Green near the half way line, he crossed the ball and Ben Wright's header flew into the net and City got a lead that their play in the opening period had deserved.

Forrester sent a bicycle kick into the hands of Thompson's before Dodd's 30 yard shot in the 27th minute went narrowly over the bar. Nat Brown overhit a back pass to Marriott and the goalkeeper scuffed it into the path of Nurse, but the striker failed to create a goalscoring opportunity.

Forrester set up Wright but the striker was just behind the cross and failed to latch onto it.

Neither side created any more chances in a half that had generally been controlled by City.

The second half was a slow affair to start with, both sides winning corners that came to nothing before Kerr shot just wide after good work from Forrester. John Still responded to his side's slow start to the second half by replaced Sloma and Nurse with Hall and Taylor.

Taylor could have scored instantly as he found himself one on one before tripping over the ball and then claiming a penalty, being laughed at by the referee. Paul Green cleared a Taiwo effort off the line before a huge ovation was given for the returning Mark Stallard. The striker has missed most of the last 3 months through injury but came on as a substitute for Ben Wright.

Taiwo blasted wide before Stallard sliced a shot wide when the Imps were 4 on 2 against the Dagenham defence. John-Lewis was taken off after getting an injury and was replaced by Dany N'Guessan, himself returning from an injury picked up on boxing day. Adam Smith replaced Forrester.

Dagenham thought they'd scored a minute later when Marriott claimed an hoof on the line and was then barged over by the Dagenham attack, the linesman thankfully ruling the effort out for the foul.

City looked to waste time in the final minutes before Stallard and Dodds worked together to feed N'Guessan with a left footed finish on the final whistle.