Ground 44: Home Park

Plymouth 0-0 Daggers

Sometimes in these 6 pointers, it's more important to avoid defeat rather than take the 3 points, this was one of those days. We set off around 8:15 to catch our train from London Paddington at 10:06. The longest train journey I have been on lasting just over 3 hours before I arrived in Plymouth at 1:15. Despite the station being only 10 minutes from Home Park, using my trusted Google maps I took my young companions Chaz and Nick on a little tour around Plymouth with the walk taking 30 minutes.

Beautiful Devon coast..

My first impression of Home Park was a very friendly place and a very nice ground for this level. I absolutely loved the area of Devon which was very coastal and seemed to have a very relaxed feel about it. We arrived in the ground to watch it fill up as I helped put up the Daggers flag and spoke to a few of our fans on their thoughts for today's game. The sides were announced as Argyle made two changes to the side that won at Stanley last week with ex Barnet keeper Jake Cole returning to the side as did left back Robbie Williams who had the classic song 'Let Me Entertain You' played before his name was read out which was top banter from the Devon club. The Daggers were forced to make a few changes after their thrashing against Cheltenham the week before. John Still handed on loan Watford keeper Jon Bond and on loan Saints winger Ben Reeves both debuts as they came straight into the side. The Daggers also gave Damien McCrory a start at his former club as left back Femi was out with a thigh strain. A slight tactical change with Scott Doe going to right back and Mickey Spillane slotting in at centre half was the only other change to starting 11 while Rob Edmans was handed a place on the bench.

Home Park - Lovely Ground.

Plymouth started the better in this one as they dominated the early possession, failure to clear the ball from the young Ben Reeves allowed ex QPR full back Paul Bignot to dispossess him and provide the experienced the Nick Chadwick a chance which he hit narrowly over the bar. Plymouth were soon on the attack again as Bignot again involved put through the 21 year old Alex MacDonald through who was stopped by a last gasp tackle from Daggers skipper Mark Arber. The Daggers had a few half chances as they went close as McCrory and Woodall both provided threatening crosses with no one to enforce an end product. MacDonald continued to be a nuisance as he provided some good footwork to set up fellow Argyle youngster Conor Hourihane with an excellent chance as he hit just over the bar. The Daggers had weathered the storm well and were glad to hear the half time whistle. A constant annoyance in the half was the Argyle mascot who seemed to stand far too close to our keeper Jon Bond and came onto the pitch twice. In my opinion, the mascot is no different to a fan like you or me so does not have a right to come on the pitch. I notified a steward at half time who was very helpful and agreed with my views as the mascot was not seen for the rest of the game.

Enjoying my away day as always...

After hoping to push on in the second half, it was very much one way traffic as Plymouth backed by an incredible 7,711 Argyle fans went in search of taking a lead. Bond made his first good save of the game as he saved a long range effort from Hourihane who had scored an absolute thunderbolt in the reverse fixture this season. The Daggers then settled into the second half and were defending fantastically well as Argyle were restricted a long range effort from Robbie Williams. Carl Fletcher made two changes to try and help his side win the game as he withdrew Luke Young and the lively Ashley Hemmings for Congolese Juhvel Tsoumou and Luke Daley respectively. Daley was straight in the action as he took advantage of a static Daggers defence after the ball looked to have gone out of play when he hit a long range effort that had well beaten Bond but didn't have enough to beat the post. It was absolute bedlam in the Daggers penalty area as a threatening cross from Maxime Blanchard was punched out by Bond only to fall to left back Williams who drove the ball goalwards only to hit the same post, that post really was playing a blinder. MacDonald had another curling shot saved by Bond as the Daggers looked to be hanging on. A battling last 10 minutes where Plymouth looked to have run out of ideas gave the Daggers a precious and slightly deserved point for their disciplined defending all afternoon.

Packed Home Park before kick off..

We made our way back to the station the short way this time as we waited for our train to depart Plymouth. The highlight of my day was being joined on the train home by all the playing and coaching staff who had taken part in the game. The players were all very humble and approachable as I spoke to quite a few of them and posed for pictures as I was a little in awe. Special mentions have to go to skipper Mark Arber who despite his black eye was in good spirits and First Team Coach Wayne Burnett who was very friendly and a real humble guy. Josh Scott also deserves a special mention for his amazing swagger as he was rocking his Fresh Ego Kid hat endorsed by former player Marvin Morgan and also wearing Dr Dre Beats. A really good spirit was carried through on the train home as Adam Cunnington was seen purchasing a celebratory beer and Medhi Elito seemed to have issues with topping up his oyster on the tube home. All part of supporting this small club from Essex.

Me & Super skipper Arbs

Looking back at the game as we focus on our players, I thought there were a lot of positives to be taken from this game. While being dominated by a very persistent Argyle side, we defended the best I've seen us defend all season. This was the first 0-0 in a league fixture for over 100 games and our first clean sheet in the league since Boxing Day. Bond seemed to make a few key saves but seemed a bit reluctant to catch anything and preferred to punch which I put down to nerves. The back four looked decent despite my worries of Doe of playing right back and McCrory did well with a very impressive winger in Ashley Hemmings. The midfield seemed to battle well with Saunders and Ogogo sticking to their defensive duties. Reeves looked a very exciting prospect on the ball while Nursey seemed ineffective again as his form has been lacking throughout the season. The front two didn't get too much service but did well when they did, a big point that needs to be made on Woodall is while he has fantastic potential, he needs to get involved in the physical side a little bit more. All in all, a really good point on the road and keeps us in touching distance going into the game at Morecambe on Tuesday Night. Stay Positive. Believe. We are Dagenham.

Bye Devon.. Hope to see you next season.