Dagenham book Wembley place with Morecambe draw

DAGENHAM & Redbridge sailed into the final of the League Two play-offs with an assured performance against Morecambe in the second leg.

The team already had one foot on the Wembley pitch, where Rotherham were awaiting the victor, following last Sunday's dismantling of the Shrimps.

In the end, Josh Scott's incredible four-goal haul and Paul Benson's brace proved to be more than enough to see the Daggers through. On the night, Benson scored his 21st goal of the season with a late header that cancelled out Mark Duffy's strike just minutes before. But David Artell's header won the game for the Shrimps in injury time.

Morecambe's fans turned out in their droves to cheer on their team in what was the final game at their Christie Park home.

They preceded the match with chants of 'we want seven', while Dagenham's small army of supporters gathered behind the goal and countered their cheers with one of their own: 'We're only here for the party' they sang, clearly believing the magnificent effort from their players last Sunday was more than enough to get the job done.

Nevertheless, one or two early goals would have put the cats amongst the pigeons. However, it was the Daggers that threatened most.

Any thoughts of a negative approach from the visitors proved unfounded, as the team took the game to Morecambe from the outset.

Their intentions were evident from the very first minute in fact, when Jon Nurse curled an effort towards goal, only for Barry Roche to make a comfortable save.

Several minutes later and Romain Vincelot managed to get a snap-shot away but once again Roche cleared the danger.

Danny Green, so influential throughout this season for the Daggers, seemed in especially keen mood to shine, tormenting his marker and twisting this way and that to create several openings.

One such run saw him weave inside and ghost into the box, but his final ball was cleared.

Up the other end, a Laurence Wilson free-kick that Tony Roberts clawed away was the closest Morecambe managed in the opening quarter.

Mark Duffy was Green's equivalent for the home side down the right wing. He gave Damien McCrory a rough ride and almost nudged his team in front, skipping away from two challenges before slamming a shot goalwards, but once again Roberts was up to the task.

The Daggers' best moment of the half almost saw a goal from the unlikeliest of sources. Paul Benson did well to fire a cross to the back post from the byline which Green met, laying the ball into the path of Scott Doe to strike, but Roche came from nowhere to deflect the effort away on the goal-line.

As the half wore on, Morecambe became more desperate, Paul Mullin forcing Roberts to brilliantly tip the ball over the bar from 15 yards.

The home fans tried to lift their players, orchestrating a cacophony of noise with chants of 'stand up if you still believe', at which point almost all of the 4,972 supporters rose to join in.

Scott, quiet for the majority of the first half after his remarkable antics at the weekend, then sparked into life, muscling his way to the left side of the box before unleashing a fierce shot that Roche got down well to save.

As Dagenham strung together an intricate passing move the visiting support bellowed 'it's just like watching Brazil'. Perhaps that chant would have been more apt last Sunday, when the Daggers were in dominant mood, but today they were doing just what they needed to.

The positive vibe continued into the second half, the Daggers' band of fans instigating a conga line that stretched the length of the stand, which included a group of Teletubbies and Santa Claus.

Christmas had certainly come early for Dagenham, as their vice-like grip on the tie grew ever stronger.

Phil Jevons did attempt an audacious lob from the edge of the area that had Roberts beaten all ends up, but it bounced on top of the bar and out for a goalkick.

Jevons turned provider, swinging a superb ball on to the head of Mullin, but his header flew wide of the upright.

In the 73rd minute the Daggers thought they had taken the lead on the night after an incisive breakaway. Jon Nurse nicked the ball off Duffy and broke downfield. He lured two defenders towards him before releasing Vincelot, who had burst into the area. The Frenchman threaded a teasing ball to the back post where Benson was waiting to tap the ball into an empty net, only for the linesman's flag to come to Morecambe's rescue.

Two minutes later and it was the hosts' turn to threaten, Mullin's excellent ball in pinched off the head of Jevons by the diving Roberts.

As the game drew to a close, Stewart Drummond blazed a shot over the bar from the edge of the box.

Morecambe did find the goal that their support and endeavour deserved when Duffy slammed a volley in to the far corner at the back post on 81 minutes. However, it was not enough to win them the match, Green firing in a delicious cross that Benson nodded home from close range just four minutes later.

Morecambe threw everybody into the box for the final moments of the game in order to try and end their Christie Park era on a high, and they did just that Artell nodding home at the back post from a deep free-kick.

The late drama capped an entertaining match but, in truth, the tie was dead before the game had kicked off.