After last week’s ultimate day drama, the Daggers diary team crave some more desperation and so head down to the Amex to watch Wolves’ last stand against Brighton & Hove Albion.
For some excellent pictures of the game head on over to Danny Last’s set here.
We must have a fatalism fetish at the moment, as last weekend, we were watching Dagenham survive on the last day of the League Two season despite losing at home to York City. This weekend, to mark the end of the Championship season, we’ve ventured down to the south coast, to watch Brighton take on Wolves. For the home team, just two years after leaving the Withdean (and beating the Daggers to gain promotion to the Championship), they are a few games from promotion to the Premier League. For the visitors, the prospect of a second consecutive relegation is looming ominously on the horizon.
When Dagenham Dan mentioned the idea of attending the game, I agreed almost immediately. After all, I haven’t been to the new stadium yet, and after Dan and Graham visited in March for the game against Crystal Palace, their reports about the place were glowing to say the least. Not normally being a person to turn down the chance to go to a game, I took up the offer of a ticket as soon as they asked.
In a way, I’ve been looking forward to this more than the Daggers games of late; at least I should be able to relax and enjoy this one, safe in the knowledge that the outcome won’t affect me. This is more than can be said for Neil, though. Our driver throughout our February trips to mainland Europe for our four game weekenders, Neil’s team have plummeted at an alarming rate in the last eighteen months. Top of the premier league after three games of 2011/12, they are now third from bottom and need a win today, plus results elsewhere to go their way to stay up. Last weekends home defeat to Burnley was met with a pitch invasion at the end, and if I am being completely honest, I can understand the frustration with it all, even if I am not completely comfortable with how it is expressed. Continue reading
The visitors, Bristol City, on the other hand had nothing but pride to play for having already been relegated. In a day of twists and turns to decide everyone’s final fate, this was one of the very few games where nothing rode on the result. So it wasn’t a surprise when I rang up Active Matt and asked if any of his six season tickets were going spare. ”Take your pick from 5…everyone seems to have better things to do today”. On a day when football options in the South East were at a premium, this would fill the gap.
Today it is all so civilised. Parking in Makro, a short walk across the Woolwich Road, a quick burger at Come Dine With Me (alas no comedy voice over from Dave Lamb) and into the ground. Because the ground is in a valley (wonder how they got the name of the ground?), views from the stands are excellent. Our timing was perfect, arriving just as the heavy rain begun to fall. The away fans seemed not to have got the message sent around by a few fans that it was “fancy dress away day” and apart from a Zippy, a rubbish looking superhero and what appeared to be a cross between a Smurf and David Hasselhoff, they looked a sorry bunch, already resigned to trips to Port Vale and Crawley Town next season. The pitch certainly seemed to have seen better days but what the heck. It was the last day of the season and this was sure to be a dramatic final ninety minutes, albeit not in Floyd Road, South East London. 
Simply put, Aldershot’s win, coupled with other results meant that, as we head towards 3pm on the last day of the campaign, there are still seven teams that could fill the two relegation places. While our visitors today, York City, are still in with a chance of going down (along with Torquay and Plymouth), it’s generally reckoned that any two from four will be the most likely to go.
Defeat for Aldershot will mean relegation back to the Conference, five years after promotion with a points tally in three figures. A draw might be enough, although that would mean that they would need results to go their way in other games involving teams at the bottom of the table. A win, and they could go into their last game of the season with a chance of staying up.
The weather this last week obviously hasn’t been good, and is more like the middle of December, than the middle of March. Leaving Dagenham at half past seven in the morning, the snow has been falling, but luckily it is not settling. However, as we get closer to the appointed pit stop at Norton Caines, the snow is much deeper, and there are several inches of the stuff in the car park at the services. Everyone heads straight inside, while the snow continues to fall, and we all only venture out once the coach is opened up again, as we prepare to depart. 
