Dagenham & Redbridge 2-2 Oldham Athletic - Late Equalising Drama!
- Oakley Bromfield
- Feb 22
- 3 min read
Updated: Feb 26
Saturday 22nd February 2025
Chigwell Construction Stadium
National League
Team News:
The Daggers made four changes to the starting eleven following their 3-0 defeat at Eastleigh on Wednesday night. Louis Jones made his debut in goal replacing Nathan Harvey, while captain Josh Rees, Chris Francis and Trent Randall came in for Regan Clayton, Paul Kalambayi and Rafiq Khaleel.
Oldham, also coming off a midweek defeat, suffered a 1-0 loss at home to Maidenhead on Tuesday night. The visitors made two changes for their trip to East London, with Billy Waters and Matt Worthington dropping to the bench for Jordan Rossiter and Josh Kay.
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As the visitors sat firmly in the play-off positions, looking to progress back into the Football League, the hosts found themselves at the opposite end of the table, battling to avoid relegation.
Both teams were eager to bounce back from their midweek defeats, and the opening quarter of an hour reflected this, with a cagey affair consisting of loose passes, long clearances and struggles to maintain possession. Neither side created any early clear-cut chances.
Just before the half hour mark, the first real opportunity of the game arrived. Randall’s cross failed to reach it’s intended target and instead looped over Tom Donaghy’s head, hitting the crossbar. Daggers centre-half Tom Eastman found himself in the opposition box but snatched at his chance, blasting the ball high over the goal and into the away end.
This sparked energy into the game, and two minutes later Oldham had their first real chance. Waters, positioned near the right-hand side of the six-yard box, rifled a shot towards the near post, but debutant Jones was alert and made a fine save.
The hosts broke the deadlock just before half-time. Aaron Loupalo-Bi, after turning his defender inside the box, unleashed a powerful strike past the Oldham keeper.
HT: Dagenham & Redbridge 1-0 Oldham Athletic
Half-time saw changes for both sides. Oldham brought on the two who started in their last game, Rossiter and Kay as they replaced Waters and Will Sutton. Dagenham & Redbridge made one change, bringing on Shiloh Remy for Dion Perreira.
It took the visitors just four minutes after the break to equalise. Mike Fondup-Talom slotted home in front of the travelling fans after Joe Pritchard found him with a low driven cross.
As the game passed the hour mark, a clever nutmeg from Randall on Kay allowed the Daggers defender to get past his man and deliver a lofted cross into the box. The ball found Eastman, who was tripped in a late and clumsy challenge – penalty!
Daggers’ tricky winger, Ryan Hill, stepped up and coolly converted to put the home side 2-1 up.
With around fifteen minutes remaining, Oldham boss Micky Mellon turned to Josh Lundstrum, who replaced Worthington in an effort to find an equaliser.
The visitors kept pushing and a long-range shot from Oldham winger, Jake Caprice, forced Jones to pull off a good save. Shortly after this effort the ball was whipped onto the head of Fondup, but his header was placed just wide. The resulting goal kick gave the opportunity for the new Daggers keeper to go down injured, much to the frustration of the travelling fans behind him, who suspected the keeper of time wasting.
In the final minutes, Oldham’s bench erupted in appeals for a penalty after Jones claimed a cross, with Fondup being brought down in the process.
Just before the end of the allotted time, Hill was substituted for Khaleel to a standing ovation and cheers from the home crowd.
As five minutes of stoppage time were added on, the referee approached the dugout and booked a member of the Oldham coaching staff, likely for dissent.
With seconds remaining on the clock, Oldham incredibly found a late equaliser. After a pinpoint through ball, Pritchard took a composed touch and calmly slotted the ball into the far corner before rushing over to his fans in dramatic celebration. With one of the final kicks of the game, Oldham secured a late point on the road.
Dagenham & Redbridge now turn their attention to Tuesday night's away fixture against another play-off pushing team in Halifax Town, whilst Oldham Athletic have a week to prepare for table topping Barnet.
FT: Dagenham & Redbridge 2-2 Oldham Athletic
Man of the Match: Trent Randall
Attendance: 1659 (640 Oldham)
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