Match Report

Sutton and Dagenham will face a fourth meeting in less than three months after Omar Bugiel’s equaliser thirteen minutes from time earned U’s a draw that they deserved for their effort in the last quarter of the game. Having struggled until the last twenty minutes but only conceded the one goal, early in the second half, U’s finally found something approaching their recent form and after Bugiel had smashed home the rebound when Louis John’s header hit the bar, they might even have avoided the replay that neither side really needs when Tommy Wright hit the outside of the post in the last minute of stoppage time.

Manager Matt Gray rotated the squad a little after two tough away games, Rob Milsom in for Ben Wyatt and Bugiel starting in place of Aaron Jarvis, while David Ajiboye started on the substitutes’ bench but was brought on with just over a quarter of the game to go and created the equaliser with U’s first on target shot of the game.

The first half was not one to live long in the memory, with Nik Tzanev comfortably gathering a low shot from Joe Quigley, who also flicked a corner in to the side netting, while at the other end U’s had claims for a penalty waved aside as Bugiel seemed to be impeded as he tried to reach Will Randall’s cross at the far post, and Wright created space for a shot just outside the penalty area but sent it too high.

There was little immediate improvement after the interval, but Dagenham took the lead within ten minutes when a tussle between Kenny Davis and Toby Stevenson which could have seen a free kick given either way ended with the Dagenham left back coming away with the ball close to the left by-line and pulling it back for Quigley, who calmly finished low to Tzanev’s right.

Quigley might have added a second when his close range header went straight at Tzanev, and he also sent a dipping volley just wide, but having avoided further damage Sutton, who had had little change out of the impressive Dagenham central defensive partnership of Kenny Clark and Manny Onariase, the latter returning after injury, hauled their way back in to the game. As well as Ajiboye, Tom Bolarinwa returned to action in the right back role, allowing Jon Barden in to midfield and Harry Beautyman to push further forward, and within seconds of the change Ajiboye met a deep cross from the left with a crisp low volley which forced Harry Seaden in to action for the first time, the keeper pushing it round the near post. From Kyel Reid’s resulting corner, John climbed at the far post to power in a header that came back off the bar and Bugiel volleyed the rebound in.

As threatening at one end as Quigley had been at the other, Bugiel almost gave U’s the lead with a volley on the turn which flew just wide, but with U’s now firmly on top there was almost a dramatic end when Wright’s pace saw him beat the defence and the onrushing Seaden to a through pass on the edge of the penalty area, but he was unable quite to direct his shot towards the vacant goal and saw go agonisingly wide via the outside of the near post.

Dagenham: H Seaden, A Eletheriou, T Stevenson, M Onariase, W Wright, K Clark, J Dobson, M Brundle, C Kandi(sub B Graham 84), J Quigley, B House(sub R Grant 62). Subs n/u L Croll, A McQueen, W Wood, J Luque, D Wright. Booked: Graham.