Andy Carroll said we was ‘over the moon’ after winning his first game in charge as interim Dagenham & Redbridge manager.
George Marsh got the only goal of the game on the 74th minute to the Daggers sitting 12th in the National League South, with 59 points from 40 games played, and are now just 5 points from the playoff places, but some of those above them have games in hand.
The result also handed Jimmy Ball his first defeat in the first game of his as Torquay United, who drop to seventh place in the division as they failed to win for the eighth time in 10 games.
View this post on Instagram
Carroll said, per The Sun: “Honestly, before the game, I was all nerves and a little bit stressed. Throughout the game, it was just a great feeling, seeing the lads work hard.
“We’ve only had two days to work on a few things and they stuck to the game plan.
“It’s just an amazing feeling when you work hard in the office, in the rooms, and you come out and see what they do there. It’s fantastic.
“I don’t even know how I’ve ended up in this role, but I’ll do anything for this club at the end of the day.
“I’m part of it now. Whether I’m a player, whether I’m a manager, owner, picking up the litter, whatever it is, I’ll do it for this club. That’s something I’ll do forever now.”
View this post on Instagram
How the dugout reacted to Marshy’s winner 🤩 pic.twitter.com/hihvcq6MN0
— Dagenham & Redbridge (@Dag_RedFC) March 22, 2026
“It’s not what anyone wanted obviously, but then you’ve got to look at the manner in which you get beat,” Ball told BBC Radio Devon.
“It’s a bit of a tough goal to take, disappointing from my point of view, but the players didn’t lie down, the players didn’t give up, they ran and fought and we had a right go and we put everything on them at the end.
“Ultimately we need to do a little bit more and have a little bit more quality in moments and then deal with that moment and not concede from a direct from a corner, that’s obviously very disappointing.
“With the quality we’ve got on the pitch, final balls, final decision-making, that’s what the game’s all about, end products.
“The last thing you do with the ball is all that matters – there was some lovely stuff, but then the last thing you do with the ball wasn’t quite good enough here today.
“I don’t think we deserved to concede, I thought they defended fantastically well to a man, headed everything, fought.
“But you don’t get what you deserve sometimes. I think a 0-0 was about right, but we didn’t get that unfortunately.”
Here’s how fans reacted with Andy Carroll ‘over the moon’ after winning his first game in charge as Dagenham manager…
@jack_briley: All we’ve asked for is positive football and we finally had it. Thought young and broad were excellent , marsh sitting jnfront of the defence and defensively sound, lawless and harrack were great. Positive football, 1700 home fans, hopefully the start of something new.
@DaggersCA: Positive football, all we’ve asked for all season and it finally happens and we win.
@harrym5848: We actually played well. 😍
@ForexWithAlan: We soaked up the pressure late on to secure those hard earned 3 points. Let’s push on and make this run in one to remember! #COYD
@DanNewtz: Great win again. Needed that type of performance at the start of the year for any chance of playoffs. But need to keep going.
@leewilsonDRFC: It was so nice to see a Daggers team give it a go. Recruitment in the summer to give us more quality will be key but that was the energy needed. Small detail but loved us leaving 2 up on corners too. #yfd
@Dazzarogers: Excellent today. If we’d played this all season we’d be near the top. Young making a fool of Bradbury benching him most of the season. Marsh –best in a Daggers shirt, everywhere. Carroll’s tactical changes spot on in just 2 days. The players clearly brought into it. Onto next Sat
@TheMemphisEra: GET INNNN! Football was really good, feels good to finally say that for Dagenham. Was slightly nervous when we sat deep to hold out the win but otherwise I don’t really have any faults! KSI X Andy Carroll’s red & blue army! ⚔️
@JoelPage_11: Had really good passages at times, had to dig in others. A really good win – get in!
You must be logged in to post a comment Login