Substitutes have impact as York City beat Dagenham 2-0

‘The Shop’ took his tally for the season to three with a composed finish in the 80th minute, as an otherwise tight match turned in the Minstermen’s favour at the Chigwell Construction Stadium.

Ollie Peace solidified the points in the 113th minute, breaking away to roll into an empty net after the entire Dagenham eleven had pushed into York's box.

An end-to-end first-half lacked a breakthrough for either side, with both Josh Rees and Tyrese Sinclair rattling the crossbar.

Dipo Akinyemi was back in the starting eleven and was keen to make an impact, but was thwarted by an impressive save by Elliot Justham.

York opted to introduce John-Lewis in the second-half, who scored his third of the season from the bench after chesting home from close-range.

Pearce secured the points deep into stoppage-time, seeing his strike trickle home.

York were hungry to return to winning ways after a shock 2-0 defeat at the hands of Boston United on Easter Monday, which was also City’s first loss of the campaign.

But whilst an undefeated home record has now diminished for the Minstermen, Adam Hinshelwood’s side are yet to be beaten on the road this season.

Dagenham had started their season brightly with a gritty 2-1 victory over Wealdstone on the opening day, but Ben Strevens’ side hadn’t managed another win since matchday one.

Draws with Rochdale, FC Halifax Town and Southend United meant that the Daggers headed into this fixture just two points behind York, having only lose to Woking so far this competitive campaign.

City have enjoyed some memorable moments at the Chigwell Construction Stadium in recent years, including a 2-1 win last October that included a comical clearance from Dan Batty that cleared the stadium, in order to waste time.

Many York fans will look back on the 2022 Isuzu FA Trophy quarter-final as a fond memory, as Clayton Donaldson levelled Vanarama National League North contenders City in the 97th minute, before the Minstermen went on to win 7-6 on penalties.

Hinshelwood named three changes to his York side, with Ollie Pearce, Ricky Aguiar and Billy Chadwick all dropping to the bench.

LIVE BLOG: DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE VS YORK CITY

Akinyemi, Marvin Armstrong and Ashley Nathaniel-George all came into the eleven.

Youngster Bill Marshall and Leon Gibson-Booth are yet to feature competitively this campaign despite impressive pre-seasons, with the club confirming that the duo have joined lower league Ossett United on youth loan deals.

Dagenham were on the hunt for a first win since the opening day, with Strevens opting to keep an unchanged side that battled to a 2-2 draw with Southend on Bank Holiday Monday.

The Daggers lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation that included the likes of Junior Morias, Ashley Eastman and Dion Pereira, who have all featured at EFL level.

York started the match relatively brightly after a headed clearance from Callum Howe allowed Armstrong to break towards the Daggers’ goal, only to be foiled by a strong challenge by Paul Kalambayi.

Shouts for a penalty from the challenge were ignored.

Eastman rose highest to head a Pereira corner well wide of Harrison Male’s goal, before Tyrese Sinclair was denied by a deflection at the other end.

Referee Callum Walchester was a busy man and distributed three yellow cards in the opening 25 minutes.

Lenell John-Lewis celebrates putting York City ahead. (Image: Tom Poole)

Akinyemi was eager to make an impact on his return to the starting eleven after linking up with Armstrong, who threaded the striker through and into a shooting position, only for his venomous effort to be parried wide by Elliot Justham.

Dagenham came within inches of an opener after a deep cross was helped on by Pereira, dropping perfectly for Rees with the goal at his mercy, only for the midfielder to rattle the woodwork on the volley.

Reece Grego-Cox had the ball in the back of the net after rounding Male, but was denied by an offside flag.

York ended the half by going within inches themselves, as Sinclair rushed onto Nathaniel-George’s lay-off, before his bending strike grazed the top of the crossbar from 25-yards out.

The second-half started in Dagenham’s favour with the hosts dominating possession, but struggling to create anything of meaning from that.

The match would come to a lengthy halt however after an injury to the linesman saw fourth official Chay Hathway promoted to the line, with an announcement echoing around the stadium for any potential qualified help from the crowd.

Batty was forced into a brave block to keep out a ferocious Pereira strike, before substitute Aguiar saw a tame effort calmly held by Justham.

John-Lewis was introduced alongside Aguiar, and was involved early on when lashing a left-footed strike over the Daggers goal.

Pereira continued to threaten as Male was made to make a comfortable stop, which proved important as the Minstermen took the lead.

Some persistence on the right-wing from Nathaniel-George saw the winger sting the palms of Justham, who invertedly palmed the cross-shot into the path of John-Lewis, with the ‘Shop’ chesting into the back of the net.

The match was settled with York managing relentless Dagenham pressure, who had sent everyone, including their goalkeeper, into the City box for a corner.

Dipo Akinyemi was back starting for York City. (Image: Tom Poole)

The Minstermen broke away on clearance with Chadwick feeding Pearce, who did brilliantly to race clear and roll the ball into the empty net.

DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE: JUSTHAM, LING (VINCENT, 46), EASTHAM, KALAMBAYI (PHIPPS, 46), RENDALL, NGUESSAN, REES, REMY (AKINOLA, 46), GREGO-COX (STEPHENSON, 84), PEREIRA (UMERAH, 84), MORIAS

SUBS NOT USED: WOODHOUSE, RUTHERFORD

YELLOW CARDS: KALAMBAYI (18), NGUESSAN (25)

YORK CITY: MALE 7, FELIX 7, FALLOWFIELD 7 (O’CONNOR, 84), HOWE 7, JOHN 7, BATTY 7, HUNT 6 (AGUIAR, 68), ARMSTRONG 7, NATHANIEL-GEORGE 8 (CHADWICK, 90+1), AKINYEMI 6 (JOHN-LEWIS 8, 68), SINCLAIR 7 (PEARCE, 90+1)

SUBS NOT USED: MCLAUGHLIN, WATSON

GOALS: JOHN-LEWIS (80), PEARCE (90+13)

YELLOW CARDS: FALLOWFIELD (22), HUNT (63)

REFEREE: CALLUM WALCHESTER

ATTENDANCE: 1543 (313)

YORK STAR PLAYER: LENELL JOHN-LEWIS. Once again, York’s leader came on and provided an incredible effort from the bench, helping City to an important three points whilst causing constant issues for the Dagenham backline. Ashley Nathaniel-George also impressed.

SHOTS OFF (ON) TARGET: 3 (1) | 2 (4)

OFFSIDES: 5 | 1

CORNERS: 9 | 2

FOULS COMITTED: 9 | 10