Match: v Dagenham & Redbridge - Nationwide Football Conference

Date: Monday, August 28th, 2006

Result: Dagenham 2 Cambridge United 0

The Journey

Departure Time: 11.30am

Arrival at Ground: A short hop down the M11 is just the kind of journey you want if you have to be away on a bank holiday, and with traffic tending to stick to the more traditional holiday routes there was virtually nothing to hold us up.

Naturally, heavy rain set in as we turned into Victoria Road (the no through road at the end of which the ground is to be found) and of course, this being a bank holiday, that downpour turned into a hailstorm as we parked at the back of the ground shortly after 12.30pm.

The inclement weather meant that by the time we'd waited for the hail to abate, a puddle the size of the Black Sea had formed in the entrance to the car park. While none of us minded getting a little damp, I was somewhat alarmed to see a periscope pop up in the middle. With no ferryman on duty we took our chances and tiptoed around its edge.

At The Ground

The Ground: A low-rise stadium in the shadow of a high-rise gym, the one stand of seating ran virtually the length of one side of the ground. It was from the press area at the back of this stand that wine gums were liberally distributed to the media from a container that was so big it would have needed a super-tanker to transport it across that puddle outside.

This press area was in marked contrast to our last away game. While Weymouth had been the epitome of awkwardness, the one at Dagenham was friendly if rather too cosy for comfort - a factor not connected with wine gum intake... honest!

While chomping through the umpteenth wine gum, there was time to reflect on Tony Spearing walking the team through the art of defending a corner in the goalmouth to the left of the main stand. Early arrivals from Cambridge also had a good view of this, as it was in front of the end allocated to them. This end consisted of an uncovered terrace backed by a wooden fence in the style and creosote-brown colour usually found marking the boundaries of a back garden. An almost-matching open terrace behind the other goal had a club shop at one end.

Covered terracing, running along the remaining side, looked as though the Habbin Stand had been stretched by pulling at either end, re-roofed in red and moved to Essex.

United Fans: Virtually silent for the first half, the second period was marked by much bating of the home keeper and he gave as good as he got. Loudest were the calls for the manager's head at the end.

View from Away End: The terracing was shallow, so the view wasn't great but you could move about to get a better one if you felt the need.

Home Fans: Dagenham fans only really roused themselves three times during the match - after each goal and after the red card.

Police/Stewards: Plenty of police and stewards on duty and they felt the need to speak to one or two individuals; a conversation prefaced by the phrase"It's time for a little chat".

Programme: At £2.50 for 52 pages, 'The Dagger' lived up to its reputation for being one of the best programmes in the Conference. Nicely designed, with lots of articles - none of which felt the need to stretch to fill available space - and with a reasonable amount to interest away fans.

Food/Drink: Long queues, but there was a reasonable variety of fare on offer. Tea (60p) was acceptable, while a substantial helping of the delicious bacon beef burger and chips was £3.50.

State of Toilets: With two separate blocks, U's fans were spoilt for choice.

Afterwards

The Journey Home: As we left, there was the slightly surreal sight of the Head of Youth Development Jez George walking along the road outside the ground. With the youth team trailing in his wake, he looked rather like the Pied Piper of Hamlin.

The journey back was, of course, a little subdued but we were intrigued by the advert on the Gants Hill roundabout that simply said 'we know who's responsible'. Well, they might have told us before we set off; it would have saved everyone a lot of time and trouble!

Mileage: 100.6 miles

Total Distance for Season: 545.5 miles

Mark Johnson, with additional reporting by David Gray, Paul Johnson, Ryan Johnson and Gordon McMillan

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