English League Two
2012-08-18 - Cheltenham Town vs Dagenham & Redbridge
A Sports Betting Pick by ArmchairPunter
Football – England – League Two
Saturday 18th August 2012 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Cheltenham Town have had a summer of reflection upon what might have been following their League Two play-off final disappointment to Crewe Alexandra at Wembley 0-2 and manager Mark Yates will need to get his squad back up and firing on all cylinders with the visit of Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday afternoon.
Cheltenham Town
The positive thing is that they start their new assault on promotion with a home match and their form at Whaddon Road was pretty solid with a record of 13-5-5 32/16, and with the bulk of last season’s squad still around, they stand a good chance of making the top seven again.
Up front, Kaid Mohamed and Darryl Duffy will be expected to provide the bulk of the goals with midfielders Marlon Pack, Jeff Goulding and Jermaine McGlashan supplying the creativity. New signings include left-back Billy Jones from Exeter, midfielder Sam Deering (Barnet) and strikers Shaun Harrad (Bury) and Chris Zebroski (Bristol Rovers) who, if they remain fit, should make an impact at this level.
It’s maybe worth noting that of the previous five meetings between these two sides, Cheltenham Town hold the upper hand with four wins and one draw, with Town doing the ‘double’ over the London side 2-1 at home and a 5-0 away win back in February.
Dagenham & Redbridge
Dagenham were expected to be at least competitive last season in League Two following their relegation from League One the season prior, but a final finish of 19th was not heralded a success.
The Daggers’ away form was a major contributing factor to this disappointing return with an away record of 5-5-13 19/37 and aside from relegated Macclesfield Town (14 goals), they were the lowest goalscorers on the road in the division last term.
Striker Jon Nurse has since departed to Barnet, so the goals will once again be reliant upon forward Brian Woodall who was Dagenham’s top scorer last season with 11 goals.
Gavin Hoyte has been snapped up from Arsenal to give a much-needed boost to Dagenham’s defence, but left-back Damien McCrory has left for Burton Albion and his departure may leave a hole in the attacking sense in that he provided 6 assists last season for them.
The Betting Verdict :
I fully expect Cheltenham to start this season off on a high though, and so I’ll back them for the straight win at reasonable odds; a 1-0 win to The Robins to put a smile on Mark Yates’ face.
The Pick :
Cheltenham 1-0 Dagenham
BEST BETTING TIP :
Pick :Takje Cheltenham Town to win @ 1.91 at Ladbrokes
