Football – England – League Two
Saturday 1st December 2012 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Next up is a mid-table clash in League Two between Torquay United and Dagenham & Redbridge at Plainmoor on Saturday afternoon with both teams keen to make a push for an outside chance of a play-off berth.
Hosts Torquay United bounced back with a win at York City last weekend following a few indifferent performances which saw them lose against Barnet and Southend United along with a draw at Oxford United, but they have a chance to right the previous wrong (v Southend United) at home when Dagenham come to town.
Torquay’s home form has been pretty solid so far this season with a record of 5-3-1 18/14 and they’ve recorded wins over Rochdale, Aldershot Town, Accrington Stanley, Gillingham and Morecambe. I’m confident that their blip against Southend is a temporary one, and aside from that result they’ve performed well on home turf, but also remember that Southend are in fourth place at the moment.
Striker Rene Howe (9 goals, 4 assists) is the Gulls’ leading scorer and he has support from Billy Bodin and Aaron Downes (3 goals, 1 assist each) with Kevin Nicholson (6 assists) and Lee Mansell (3 assists) providing the ammunition. Torquay usually score at home too having failed to score just once in their last 11 league matches.
Dagenham make the trip west on the back of a home win over Fleetwood Town last weekend, but their home form has also been pretty solid with The Daggers losing just two of their matches on home soil so far this term. However, their away form has been quite inconsistent so far this season and despite recording recent wins at Chesterfield and Oxford United, losses at York City and Burton Albion have pegged them back each time and I don’t know if they have the quality to match Torquay in this one.
Dagenham’s away record stands at 2-3-4 15/19 and to stand any chance of getting something at Plainmoor they’ll need to keep a clean sheet – something they’ve achieved just once in their last seventeen away matches in the league!
Sam Williams and Luke Howell (6 goals each) are the main goal threats from Dagenham along with support from Luke Wilkinson (4 assists) and Abu Ogogo (3 assists) and whilst they will usually cause problems with their attacking personnel, they will also usually concede goals and more often than not concede more than they score.
I’m expecting a similar story here at Plainmoor with Torquay running out either 2-1 or 3-2 winners in what should be an entertaining match.
Pick: Torquay United straight win @ 2.05 Bet Victor
