Dagenham & Redbridge and FC Halifax Town shared the spoils in a hard-fought 1-1 draw at the Chigwell Construction Stadium, a result that leaves both sides locked on five points and sharing 11th place in the Vanarama National League. Mirroring their identical records coming into the match, the encounter played out much like their two goalless stalemates last season, with neither side able to gain a decisive advantage.
The Daggers broke the deadlock in the 27th minute. A well-worked move culminated in Ryan Hill, who later picked up a yellow card, providing the assist for Josh Rees to fire the home side into the lead. Halifax manager Chris Millington reacted swiftly, making a tactical substitution just before half-time, introducing Florent Hoti for Jack Jenkins.
The second half witnessed a flurry of changes from both benches. Owen Bray replaced Tom Pugh for Halifax in the 51st minute. Dagenham & Redbridge then made a double substitution, with goalscorer Rees’s provider, Ryan Hill, making way for Shiloh Remy on the hour mark, followed by Junior Morias being replaced by Josh Umerah nine minutes later. Halifax continued to shuffle their pack, bringing on Aaron Cosgrave for Adan George in the 67th minute and Zak Emmerson for Angelo Capello with 13 minutes remaining.
The visitors’ pressure eventually told in the 83rd minute. Adam Senior delivered the assist for Andrew Oluwabori to level the scores, replicating his match-winning contribution in the last meeting between these two sides last season. The closing stages saw late bookings for both sides, with Halifax’s Will Smith cautioned for a foul in the 87th minute and Dagenham’s Tom Eastman receiving a yellow card for a similar offence in injury time.