Dagenham 4 Gravesend & N 0

GRAVESEND & Northfleet continued to slide closer to the relegation zone after receiving a severe whacking away to Dagenham.

Fleet started the brighter and almost took the lead inside the opening 10 minutes with Jimmy Jackson producing a fine save from Tony Roberts.

The home side struggled to get into the game but were awarded a penalty against the run of play in the 12th minute when Paul Wilkerson brought down Gary Fletcher as he tried to get on the end of Justin Skinner's misplaced header.

John McGrath stepped up and fired the ball into the bottom-right corner of the net. The visitors' woe was compounded when Skinner was sent off for a foul on Mark Janney after 21 minutes after he made a hash of a free kick and brought the striker down in full flight.

Dagenham started the second period as they finished the first and made their numercial advantage tell when Mark Janney crossed from the right for Steve West to drill the ball home from six yards after 55 minutes.

Substitute Mark Stein made it 3-0 with a 20-yard curler after 78 minutes and, nine minutes later, West grabbed his second goal to cement victory.

Fleet assistant boss Phil Handford put the defeat down to individual errors. "He said: "That's been the story of the season so far. Two silly decisions by our players, one for the penalty and the sending off, has cost us.

"For the first 10 or 15 minutes the game was even, but with just 10 men you're always up against it. And as we're a bit thin on the ground with players at the moment there was maybe a lack of belief in the players but they all worked tremendously hard and were a credit."

Gravesend: Wilkerson, Lee, Burton, Giles, Skinner, Jackson, Lye (Kwashi 60 mins), Strouts, Bentley, Budge (Evans 69 mins), Wilkins. Subs unused - Turner, Coyle, Gedling.

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