Mergers between separate sides are often difficult for supporters to accept but in several cases they seem to be the only way to progress, such as Dagenham & Redbridge, who are the amalgamation of several former clubs.
In 1979, Leytonstone and Ilford Football Clubs merged to form the imaginatively titled Leytonstone & Ilford! In 1988, Walthamstow Avenue were absorbed by the club and in 1990 they changed their name to Redbridge Forest. Two years later Redbridge merged with Dagenham to form the current club who, after several cup runs and good performances in the Conference, were promoted to the Football League at the beginning of last season.
Not surprisingly there have been very few meetings between the Imps and the Daggers with just three League encounters, two in the GM Vauxhall Conference, a pre-season friendly and an FA Cup tie.
Dagenham were the first visitors to Sincil Bank in the GM Vauxhall Conference and after two away defeats we kick started our season with a comfortable 3-0 victory.
A crowd of 1,995 saw David Mossman put us ahead after 36 minutes when he fired home after a long throw by Shane Nicholson was flicked on and he added a second in the 61st minute. Not a bad way to celebrate his debut for us! Les Hunter scored the third 11 minutes later. Had Dagenham 'keeper Scott not saved well from Hunter, John McGinley and Mark Sertori then we would have won by a bigger margin.
The match in London later in the season attracted just 832 fans, the lowest crowd who saw us that season, as we again won 3-0 with two goals from Phil Brown and one from Dave Clarke.
The friendly meeting also took place at Victoria Road in August 1992 when we lost 2-0.
The FA Cup tie was at Sincil Bank in the Second Round in December 2000. City had Matthew Ghent in goal as Alan Marriott was injured and the young 'keeper produced a "Man of the Match" winning display until the 90th minute when he let a soft shot from Mark Janney slip through his legs to win the game for the Daggers. Ghent never played for us again!
The 2007/08 season we became the first side the Daggers beat since they clinched promotion to the Football League as we went down to an 88th minute goal from Paul Benson. The return fixture at Sincil Bank saw goals from Ben Wright and Dany N'Guessan earn us a 2-0 success but the Londoners exacted revenge, winning 3-1 in Lincoln in what was the Imps' first home game of the 2008/09 season.
A crowd of just 1,302 - the lowest attendance for a game between the two teams - braved the torrential rain on a wet Tuesday in Dagenham in March 2009 and the travelling City supporters went home the happier having watched goals from Aaron Brown, Anthony Elding and Janos Kovacs secure a 3-0 victory.
The game at Victoria Road earlier this season saw another 3-0 scoreline, although this time it was in the hosts' favour with the game turning out to be Peter Jackson's final League match as City manager.
Very few players have played for the Imps and any of the clubs that eventually became Dagenham & Redbridge with current Dagger Peter Gain the only one to date to have appeared in the Football League for both sides.
By Gary Parle
