McMahon: Great to have Balanta back among goals for Dagenham & Redbridge

Balanta made his first start of the season after recovering from injury and opened the scoring inside a quarter of an hour at Victoria Road.

Junior Morias added a second soon after the break, from Josh Hare’s super cross, before the visitors grabbed a last-gasp consolation.

And after only a second win in seven matches, Daggers moved back up to 10th in the table, five points off the play-off spots.

“It’s great to have him back. I’ve said it a million times, he’s a brilliant player for us, a top player for us,” McMahon told the club website.

“He gives you that composure and quality at the top end of the pitch, he can put his foot on the ball and bring people into the game.

“We’ve missed him this season, there’s no getting away from that. To have him back was brilliant and the finish was outstanding.

“No surprise to see him score once he gets in there, but I thought George Saunders’ pass was excellent as well.

“The weight of pass to get between centre-back and full-back to get Ang in there was very good from George.”

Balanta and Saunders came into the starting line-up after Saturday’s 3-2 loss at Scunthorpe, along with the returning Hare, who was also praised.

“The three of them were excellent,” added McMahon.

“We missed Josh. Josh is a steady player for us, good experience, knows the level, reliable as you like, very similar to Sam Ling.

“Very reliable players and you want that in your side. I thought Josh was outstanding.”

And having lost five of their previous six league matches, McMahon admitted it was a relief to secure three more points in their push for promotion.

“Delighted with the win, the boys played really well, worked really hard against an Aldershot team in good form,” he said.

“They’re a good side, young team with good energy, play football the right way.

“It was great for us to get people back from injury and get them minutes on the pitch and have some youngsters who have done really well in George and Sydney [Ibie] when he came on.”

Inih Effiong was unavailable for selection, due to the terms of his move from Aldershot, and Harry Phipps was replaced during the break after being booked.

But McMahon hailed substitute Myles Weston for his efforts to the cause, adding: “With Phippsy it was just the yellow card. Unfortunately for us, he’s been sent off twice this season, we can’t risk losing him again.

“We felt by getting Lingy into that position anyway, Lingy defends that area really well, and get Westy on the pitch as well.

“Westy has got a knee injury but he wants to play. It just shows the commitment he has got to the group.

“He’s been told to rest or maybe take an injection but he doesn’t want to do it. He said he’d rather get on with it and get his head down and get through it. That’s credit to Westy.

“Someone of his age to have that desire to still want to get out there and play, he’s not sitting in the treatment room hiding away from a difficult time for us.

“He’s out there, wanting to be part of the group and that’s brilliant from Myles Weston. He’s a real leader in the group.”