Darlington 3-0 Dagenham & Redbridge

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Posted at 01:44 PM GMT, Sunday, 26th October 2008

Darlington moved into the League Two play-off places with a comfortable home win over Dagenham & Redbridge. Quakers were rarely troubled during this encounter and whilst the visitors carved out a few decent chances late in the game Darlington were already home and dry by that stage. A brace from Liam Hatch and a goal from Jason Kennedy were more than enough to see off the Daggers.

Quakers took the lead after just five minutes. Once again another Franz Burgmeier set-piece was the source of the goal. His corner found Hatch who headed home from close range to send Darlington on their way. The home side were never in real danger of conceding their early advantage at any stage during this game.

On thirteen minutes Darlington could have doubled their lead through Rob Purdie. The tireless utility man exchanged passes with forward Billy Clarke before netting however his strike was ruled out for offside. A few minutes later Hatch cut inside and fired over the bar. On half an hour another Burgmeier corner caused problems for Dagenham. The visitors failed to deal with it and the ball broke to Alan White who hit the base of the post.

The Daggers' hopes of restoring parity in the second period lasted just a few minutes as they were once again undone. Hatch was released down the left flank and he moved the ball inside for Kennedy who initially appeared to have done too much but instead showed excellent footwork to round the keeper and tap home. Darlington's second goal of the game all but confirmed the win and that Quakers would move ahead of Dagenham in the table.

A few minutes later and the home side were over the horizon. A Neil Austin free kick saw Hatch climb to send a header over keeper Tony Roberts and into the net. Once again the simplest of balls proving the most effective. The visitors tried to respond but in truth Darlington should have added even more goals to their tally. Burgmeier found himself in the clear. His shot was lifted over Roberts but also went wide of the post. Hatch then threatened a hat-trick with another header on sixty-five minutes.

With fifteen minutes left to play Simon Brown was forced into a good save from Jon Nurse. He then responded excellently to blocked Sam Saunders' follow up effort. It was the Dagenham's best chance of the game but so comfortable was Darlington's lead by that stage manager Dave Penney could afford to remove Clarke and Hatch for the closing periods of the game.

In place of Clarke came Adam Proudlock and he managed to spurn a late chance to net his first goal for the club. In the end it didn't mater as Darlington not only cruised to victory but also kept their first clean sheet in six league games.

Darlington: Brown, Austin, White, Foster, Valentine, Purdie, Ravenhill (Hulbert 83), Kennedy, Burgmeier, Clarke (Proudlock 78), Hatch (Blundell 77). Subs Not Used: Kazimierczak, Griffin.

Dag & Red: Roberts, Foster , Arber, Okuonghae, Griffiths, Saunders, Taiwo, Gain, Ritchie (Southam 71), Strevens, Nwokeji (Nurse 65). Subs Not Used: Huke, Uddin, Hogan.

Darlington bookings: Hatch, Burgmeier.

Dag & Red bookings: Ritchie, Taiwo.

Goals: Hatch 5th min (1-0), Kennedy 51st min (2-0), Hatch 55th min (3-0).

Att: 3,070