Pools head coach reflects on Dagenham draw after late equaliser denies his side
Hartlepool United head coach Anthony Limbrick felt his side were unfortunate not to come away with all three points after they were denied by Harry Phipps' late goal in Saturday's draw with relegation-threatened Dagenham and Redbridge.
Pools dominated the opening exchanges and went ahead when Paul Kambalayi turned Joe Grey's close range effort into his own net after 17 minutes. The visitors could have been even further in front had the sprawling Jake Turner not denied Mani Dieseruvwe, normally faultless from 12 yards, from the penalty spot.
The momentum of the game changed in the 25th minute when teenage defender Louis Stephenson, who has shown such character and resilience in recent weeks and will need to do so again, was sent off following a second yellow card in quick succession.
With the Daggers under all sorts of pressure at the wrong end of the National League table and needing at least a point to keep themselves in the fight for survival, Pools knew that little else other than a win would keep their slim chances of sneaking into the play-offs alive. The visitors dug their heels in and defended valiantly, even managing to continue to pose a threat at the other end; Turner denied the towering Billy Sass-Davies with another strong save on the stroke of half time.
In the midst of vociferous protests from the home fans aimed at both under pressure manager Lewis Young and new American owners, Dagenham pressed forward and hit the bar through former Pools frontman Josh Umerah, while Fulham loanee Aaron Loupalo-Bi missed from close range in the second half. Substitute Dion Pereira, who always seems to impress against Pools and was returning to action following a month out, started pulling the strings after his introduction and struck the woodwork with a deflected strike nine minutes from time.
As the clock ticked down, it began to feel like Pools might be able to get over the line and secure a fourth win in a row, only for a late goal to break the hearts of the travelling fans and all but extinguish their fading hopes of gatecrashing the top seven. With Pools throwing their bodies on the line and defending manfully, a moment of bad luck made the difference when defender Harry Phipps, up from the back, skewed a volley off the side of his boot and into the bottom corner.
On another day and at a different stage in the season, a point would have been a very decent result for Pools, who made the long journey down to Victoria Road on the morning of the game. Yet, given the fact that Anthony Limbrick's side in all likelihood needed to win all of their final five games to stand any chance of finishing in the play-off places, the late leveller left a bitter taste.
While Pools had to ride their luck at times, it was a spirited performance to be proud of after going down to 10 men midway through the first half. Although Dagenham had more than their fair share of chances, Pools drew a lot of plaudits for their determined rearguard action and Anthony Limbrick felt his side were a little unfortunate not to be heading back to the North East with all three points.
"We knew they'd come at us with a lot of pressure," he told BBC Radio Tees Sport.
"We changed the shape a couple of times to see it out. It was difficult, but we still wanted an attacking threat in the game as well. In the end, we had to settle for defending the box and I thought we did that very, very well.
"The goal that they scored, the centre-back, Phipps, mishits it and it goes in. They would say that they've had a lot of pressure and deserved the win, we'd say we could have seen it out."
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