1.Why you were looking forward to going to the ground (or not as the case may be):

I knew that Dagenham wasn’t going to be the most glamorous away trips of the year, however Bournemouth were chasing promotion and it wasn’t such a trek to make up to the capital. We were in good form and I felt we would be able to nick at least a point. It promised to be a exciting day out.

2. How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?

The journey wasn’t too complicated, a two and a half hour drive up the M3 and then up the M25 to the Dartford tunnel. I used my programme notes to find the ground, and we found a small street to park on, so that wasn’t an issue.

3. What you did before the game pub/chippy.... home fans friendly?

We went straight to the ground to soak up the atmosphere as we had a large contingent of away fans, around 800, so the atmosphere was great. We got a drink and a pie inside the ground, relatively good prices. I think I had a pie and a pint and still managed change from a fiver.

4. What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the ground?

My first thoughts of the ground were how poor it was. There were two terraces and two stands, ours however, the away end was particularly impressive. It was an all seater stand with good facilities. I was rather surprised to see the tunnel was situated beneath our area. However I suppose you come to expect this from a team who have spent most of their existence in non league.

5. Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, toilets etc..

The game itself was a shocker from our point of view. As usual a large travelling support wasn’t matched with a good performance. Dagenham won one nil with a penalty on the stroke of half time, a ridiculous decision which had the referee cursing the fact the tunnel was under the packed out away end! We could have grabbed a point, but we were still second and so that suited me fine. The atmosphere was only decent due to our fans, while the stewards were ridiculously over zealous with us. People were being ejected for swearing, which I found crazy considering the 20 quid entrance fee for a mediocre game of football. Toilets were standard, and all in all a good day out bar the result.

6. Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:

Getting away from the ground was fine, apart from the usual banter lead to a bit of a stand off. We were soon back on the M25 back home, with little congestion around the ground.

7. Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:

I thought it was a good day out. However, the ground was fairly basic and I wont be rushing back to Dagenham in the near future, especially if we produce another of those poor performances.