Gravesend & N 2 Dag & Red 1

GRAVESEND & Northfleet manager Andy Ford has warned his players they need to find a killer instinct if they are to remain in the top six.

The Fleet bounced back from two successive defeats to overcome Dagenham at Stonebridge Road on Tuesday night.

But they missed a hatful of chances and nearly paid the price as the visitors threatened to nick a point.

“We should have killed the game off earlier,” said Ford. “It was great to score the second goal straight after half-time and we should have gone on from there. That’s the side we need to improve on if we are going to stay where we are in the league.”

Gravesend went ahead on 27 minutes when Roy Essandoh headed Lee Protheroe’s deep right-wing cross back for captain Steve McKimm to convert from close range.

It should have been 2-0 straight after when Moussa Sidibe went close but Fleet were grateful to recalled goalkeeper Paul Wilkerson’s two impressive saves to keep them in front at half-time.

The home side doubled their lead four minutes after the break when comical defending between ex-Fleet keeper Alex O’Reilly and Anwar Uddin left Manny Omoyinmi with a simple tap-in.

Dagenham's Jake Leberl was only shown a yellow card for a two-footed foul on Sidibe and the visitors forced their way back into the contest when Chris Moore scrambled the ball home midway through the half.

Although Dagenham pushed forward, their chances were limited to one penalty appeal by Moore while Sidibe wastefully missed a hat-trick of openings at the other end.

“It’s always nice to come back from a couple of defeats and they were a big three points,” said Ford.

“But we’ll be saying that throughout the season, every game is massive for us.”