Dagenham & Redbridge produced a devastating display of attacking football at the Chigwell Construction Stadium, routing Gateshead 7-1 in a remarkable National League encounter. The Daggers’ early pressure told after just four minutes when Dion Pereira, latching onto a Junior Morias pass, slotted home the opener. Their dominance continued and in the 16th minute, Josh Rees doubled the lead, converting from a Tom Eastman assist. Against the run of play, Gateshead found a lifeline in the 31st minute when Paul Mbiya-Kalambayi unfortunately turned the ball into his own net. Despite this setback, Dagenham remained unfazed and continued to control proceedings.
The second half witnessed a complete dismantling of the visitors. In the 64th minute, Morias returned the favour to Pereira, scoring Dagenham’s third. Pereira then extended the lead further from the penalty spot in the 70th minute, before Morias grabbed his second just two minutes later, courtesy of a Christian N’Guessan assist. The goals continued to flow as Josh Umerah made it 6-1 in the 76th minute. Deep into stoppage time, Rees rounded off the scoring, completing his brace with a finish from a Reece Grego-Cox assist. The substitute had only recently entered the fray as part of Dagenham’s tactical management of the game, with several changes made to maintain their intensity and offer key players a breather. Gateshead, despite a triple substitution in the 67th minute, were simply unable to stem the tide against the rampant Daggers. The emphatic victory marks a significant turnaround for Dagenham against Gateshead, having failed to win any of their previous four meetings. The result propels Dagenham to 9th in the National League table, while Gateshead, despite starting the match in 4th, fall to 5th.