Cheltenham Town FC

Full-time: Daggers 3, Robins 1

Cheltenham Town sunk back into the relegation mire with this hugely dispiriting defeat at Dagenham & Redbridge.
If last weekend's draw with Luton Town was a step in the right direction, this was two steps backwards. 
It was a typical League Two slog in testing conditions, and the game finally came to life after the break. 
Robins' supporters know all about Jamie Cureton, and his goal ten minutes into the second half gave the Daggers a 55th minute lead. 
It was his second against his old team this term, and it handed his side the advantage on an bleak afternoon in Essex. 
But the evergreen striker’s goal was cancelled out by Jack Dunn only seven minutes later, thanks to his third strike in five matches for the Robins. 
The Liverpudlian has been a revelation since his arrival from Liverpool and the manager will be hoping to extend the promising forward’s deal with this match representing his last in the current arrangement, despite limping off seven minutes from time. 
In truth the 20-year-old is the only player that looks capable of making things happen at the moment. 
With the game seemingly destined to end in stalemate Ashley Hemmings, another former Robins, fashioned a fantastic goal from nothing to restore his side's lead. 
Substitute Alex Jakubiak struck in injury time to extinguish any hope of a late leveller, plunging Paul Buckle's side to only two points off the dropzone tonight. 
Both sides struggled to adapt to the conditions in the first half. It was freezing, and the pitch was boggy but there was a smattering of chances to report before the break. 
There had been nothing between the sides until the two former Robins combined in the 13th minute to fashion the first chance of the afternoon. 
Hemmings sent a lovely ball down the left for Cureton to run on to, but the ex-striker pushed his shot wide of the target. 
Dunn made a typically lively start to the game and had been presented with a couple of half chance before calling Mark Cousins, the Daggers’ goalkeeper, into a comfortable save three minutes later. 
Luke Howell tried his luck for the home side from 30 yards, but his deflected strike flashed past the left upright. Then Zack Kotwica was inches away from the first goal after a fine solo effort from 20 yards. 
Jake Gray saw a decent chance saved, while Hemmings thumped one well over with half time approaching. 
The second half started brightly enough with Joe Hanks, in for the injured Kevin Stewart, bringing about a save with a decent free-kick from 25 yards. The young midfielder saw a shot travel wide a moment later. 
But the home side were in front ten minutes into the second half through Cureton, after Braham-Barrett had been adjudged to have fouled Andre Boucaud. 
The evergreen striker watched Carson save his spot kick, down to the Northern Irishman’s right, but he reacted quickest to the rebound and bundled home from a tight angle. 
The Robins were level only seven minutes later when Dunn drew a foul by Cousins following a lovely move involving Hanks and Ferdinand. 
The goalkeeper was booked for the infringement, and was unable to save the Liverpudlian’s penalty to his left. 
Dagenham restored their lead with 19 minutes to play through Hemmings. 
There was no apparent danger as the ex-loanee drifted away from goal down the left channel, but he somehow found space to unleash an unstoppable effort from a tight angle into the top-right corner. 
There were late chances for Hemmings and Jukubiak, but it was the replacement Jukubiak that put the result out of reach deep into injury time. 

DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE (4-4-2): Cousins; Batt, Doe (c), Obileye, Widdowson; Howell, Boucard, Bingham, Hemmings; Murphy (Jakubiak 36), Cureton (Ogogo 90). Subs not used: O’Brien (Gk), Saah, Chambers, Labadie, Jones. 

CHELTENHAM TOWN (4-5-1): Carson; Jones, Taylor (c), Brown, Braham-Barrett; Gray, Hanks, Richards (Sterling-James 78), Ferdinand, Kotwica; Dunn (Williams 84). Subs not used: Reynolds (Gk), Vaughan, Gornell, Deaman, Berry. 

REFEREE: G Horwood 

ATTENDANCE: 2,696 (208 from Cheltenham)