Dagenham & Redbridge boss Daryl McMahon admitted winning against lowly Scunthorpe United was ‘the most important thing’ in their National League encounter.
Harry Phipps headed them in front at Victoria Road from Myles Weston’s cross, but the visitors levelled soon after.
And Daggers had to wait until five minutes from time to seal a 2-1 victory, when substitute Jay Bird netted on his debut from another Weston delivery.
“I’m delighted we won first and foremost, I think that was the most important thing,” McMahon told the club website.
“The first half was hard. I don’t think we played great, I thought they were good first half, they set traps to stop us playing out, they tried to press Manny [Onariase] and Mo [Sagaf] through the middle of the pitch which I thought they did really well.
“We probably played into that trap a little too often. Once it happened two or three times, I thought we could’ve bypassed it by clipping it into Junior [Morias] and Josh [Walker] which, even in that first half, I thought we had real joy with, Josh particularly down our left channel.
“I thought we were very reactive and on our heels. We were just off the pace of the game, simple as that.
“I could’ve complained about the scoreline at half-time, we probably had good chances in the first half as well but we give them too many and didn’t control it as well as we would.
“I felt we were the better side going into the second half. We were much better in possession, played in their half more, won more second balls in their half and showed the threat we can be.
“I suppose people will look at where Scunthorpe are in the table and expect us to beat them, which is unrealistic at this level.
“We’ve been the team that’s gone away and beat teams. We know that can happen to us as well.
“In the second half we showed what we’re about, stepped up the gears and showed real quality.”
McMahon was keen to praise his side for finding the formula to see off their rivals, as well as certain individuals in his side.
“If someone’s stopping you doing what you want to do, we have to find other ways to play through teams, around teams or over teams,” he added.
“It can’t just be that we keep playing the same way if it’s not working.
“We’ve seen it across the season, we’ve managed to adapt but I wanted us to adapt a little bit quicker than we actually did.
“It took us to get to half-time to sit down and show people how and what we wanted to do to change it.
“Certain individuals that have come into the team have made it better, like Phippsy. He has made us a lot better.
“Joel Taylor has been excellent for us in the two games. Birdy coming in and scoring a goal I think we’ve been lucky with that as well, getting some good people through the door.”
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
