Latics pegged back by Daggers

Latics drew at home again on Saturday

It was a case of deja vu at Boundary Park on Saturday in front of 6,465 fans, as once again, Latics threw away an early lead and were forced to settle for a draw, this time against Dagenham and Redbridge.

After caretaker manager Steve Thompson won his first three games, the last three have all ended in 1-1 draws and, despite the fact that his side has yet to fall behind in a match, they have recently dropped six points that were there for the taking.

The Latics interim manager named an unchanged team for the game against the Daggers, the only difference being that Mike Fondop replaced Ben Tollitt on the bench.

And the home side got off to the best possible start on five minutes when they were awarded a corner on the right.

With a routine straight from the training ground, Brennan Dickenson found an unmarked Josh Lundstram who fired in a low cross for James Norwood to put the ball past the keeper.

Latics were completely in control for the first 20 minutes but, as the game wore on, the visitors came more and more into the match and started to dominate possession themselves, with Matt Hudson at the other end having to produce a string of fine saves from distance.

The second half continued in a similar way with Dagenham giving Latics little time on the ball and having more than their fair share of possession.

Nearly 10 minutes after the interval, Fondop came on for Alex Reid and he immediately made an impact with a fine run and shot which went just wide.

On the hour, Kurt Willoughby came on for Dickenson as Latics looked for a second that would give them some breathing space, but it wasn’t to come as the away side built up an impressive corner count as they searched for an equaliser and grew in confidence.

That equaliser came after 74 minutes when Josh Rees’s header in the penalty box looped over Hudson to the delight of the 58 travelling supporters.

It was a goal that they had richly deserved from midway in the first half and, once again, it left the Latics’ fans disconsolate.

Indeed, two minutes after the goal, Latics nearly went behind with Sears just unable to connect to Kendall’s cross.

It's FA Cup action next for Latics when they travel to local rivals Altrincham on Saturday.

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