Dagenham & Redbridge v Barnet
Victoria Road
Saturday 13th February 2016
Kick Off: 15:00
Barnet: It has now been three weeks since Barnet’s last competitive match, following the postponements of Portsmouth (H) and Newport County (A). The Bees had kept three clean sheets in a row prior to the recent break – beating Bristol Rovers (1-0), before goalless draws against Carlisle United and Stevenage. With John Akinde back to full fitness, Martin Allen’s men will now be looking to improve their fortunes in front of goal at Victoria Road.
To watch the Bees’ manager’s pre-match interview, click here.
Dagenham & Redbridge: The Daggers have endured a challenging season so far, and are currently 23rd – occupying one of the League Two relegation spots. Dagenham’s struggles are largely down to their poor home form; they are still yet to win a match at Victoria Road during this campaign, and have only picked up four points in front of their own fans. Unsurprisingly this is the worst home record in League Two, but the East London club have enjoyed a reasonable return of 16 points on the road. The Daggers recorded back-to-back wins around the turn of the year (3-1 against Stevenage and 2-1 versus Exeter City) but their recent form of seven points from eight games is still the third worst in the division.
In The Dugout: John Still will be a familiar name to most Barnet fans, having managed the club between 1997 and 2000. He also had a spell as caretaker manager following the departure of Tony Cottee in 2001. The Bees enjoyed two successful Division Three campaigns while Still was in charge – losing in the play-off semi-finals to Colchester United (1997-1998) and Peterborough United (1999-2000) after 7th place finishes in both seasons. The West Ham-born coach signed Barnet legends Darren Currie and Scott McGleish while in the Underhill hot seat, as well as breaking the club’s transfer record when £136,000 defender Greg Heald joined the Bees. Still has enjoyed great success since leaving Barnet – winning promotion to League Two and then League One with Dagenham & Redbridge, before winning the Conference title with Luton Town in 2013-14. He returned to Victoria Road midway through this season.
Dangermen: Striker Christian Doidge is the Daggers top scorer so far this season, with six goals in all competitions. The 23-year-old scored 20 times in 50 appearances for Carmarthen Town from 2012 to 2014, during which time he lifted the Welsh League Cup on two occasions. His form alerted Dagenham & Redbridge, who brought him to East London in July 2014. He currently has eight goals for the club, and has begun to start on a more regular basis this season.
Doidge’s strike partner is veteran forward Jamie Cureton. The Bristol-born poacher is still scoring on a regular basis at the age of 40, having played 849 games and scored 289 goals at 14 different clubs. Career highlights include winning promotion from the third tier with Reading and QPR, as well as finishing top goal scorer in the Championship with Colchester United in 2006-07. Cureton played in the Premier League whilst at Norwich City, and enjoyed a brief spell in South Korea with the Busan I’Cons.
Last Meeting: Two goals from Michael Gash helped Barnet to a 3-1 win over Dagenham when the teams met back in September. The striker scored after just a minute to give the Bees the lead, before Andy Yiadom doubled the home side’s advantage with 34 minutes on the clock. Gash made it three with his second on 56 minutes, before Jodi Jones pulled one back for the Daggers. Click here to read the full match report, or check out highlights from the game here.
Ticket Details: Barnet supporters will be housed in the stadium’s TBS Stand (seated), where on-the-day admission prices are: Adults – £21.00, Concessions (Over 65) – £15.00, Aged 10-16 – £12.00, Under 10’s – £10.00. To find out more information, click here.
Travel: The supporters’ coach leaves The Hive at 12:00 and costs £19 return. You can also get a shuttle bus to The Hive for just £1 each way. For more details click here.
here.Please Note: There are a number of tube line closures on Saturday, including part of the District Line. Find out more
Follow The Match: If you can’t get to Victoria Road, you can listen to full commentary of the match on Bees Player HD. We’ll also have live twitter updates throughout the game, and a match report & post-match reaction on barnetfc.com.
