Dagenham & Redbridge 2-2 West Ham United
Pre-Season Match, Chigwell Construction Stadium, Saturday 22 July 2023, 3pm BST

Maxwel Cornet and Divin Mubama were on target as West Ham United were held to a 2-2 draw by Dagenham & Redbridge in our latest pre-season match on Saturday afternoon.

Cornet’s and Mubama’s goals twice gave the Hammers – who fielded a blend of experience and youth at the Chigwell Construction Stadium – the lead, but Dagenham kept plugging away and earned themselves a draw thanks to Inih Effiong’s first-half strike and Sydney Ibie’s late penalty.

David Moyes used the contest as an opportunity to give his players who were involved in international action this summer their first minutes of pre-season, as the likes of Vladimír Coufal, Nayef Aguerd, Tomáš Souček and Thilo Kehrer returned to action.

There was also the chance for the Club’s Academy youngsters to gain valuable experience, with Mubama’s fine summer continuing as he notched a third goal in as many games.

The Hammers had been in fine goalscoring fettle in their opening three friendly matches of the summer, notching 13 times in those fixtures, and this group wasted little time in finding the back of the net either.

There were only ten minutes on the clock when Saïd Benrahma drove towards the Dagenham penalty area from the left flank with a penetrating run and set the ball back for Cornet to sweep home left footed.

Three minutes later the Daggers came close to a leveller when Benrahma, in attempting to get the ball away from the edge of his own box, inadvertently teed up Frank Vincent, who whistled an effort over the top.

Benrahma was at the heart of the early action and, midway through the first half, he played a low corner into the box for Lewis Orford to dart on to, take a touch, and fade a shot inches away from the far post.

Dagenham dragged themselves back into the contest as the first half went on with striker Effiong providing a lively outlet up front.

After curling a sighter just past the post on 27 minutes, the big No9 made the most of his next opportunity, flashing a fierce shot beyond Alphonse Areola after advancing to the edge of the Hammers box.

Dagenham enjoyed the better of the remainder of the first half, as Sam Ling’s snap shot from the edge of the box forced a smart stop from Areola, before their trialist hit the top of the crossbar with a free-kick from 20 yards in the final action before the break.

The Hammers began to make their changes at the break and one of the new introductions, Mubama, continued his fine start to pre-season by re-establishing a lead for the visitors seven minutes after the restart.

Cornet played a major role in the goal, pressuring left-back Elliot Johnson to cough up possession inside his own box before squaring unselfishly for Mubama to tap home.

Shortly afterwards Benrahma rattled the underside of the Dagenham crossbar with a free-kick from 20 yards as the Hammers searched for another, while a raft of Academy prospects were handed their chance from the bench as the clock ticked past the hour.

Areola was unthreatened for the majority of the second half in the Hammers goal, but a foul by Luizão on Ibie ten minutes from time gave the hosts the chance from the spot to level for a second time.

Ibie picked himself up and made no mistake, rolling his penalty to the right as Areola dived the other way to ensure the spoils would be shared.

Dagenham & Redbridge: Justham ©, Hare, Longe-King, Eastman (Phipps 63), Johnson, Ling (Trialist C 68), Hessenthaler (Trialist B 63), Rees (Blair 75), Vincent, Trialist A (Weston 75), Effiong (Ibie 63)

Goals: Effiong 29, Ibie pen 80

West Ham United: Areola, Coufal (Casey 46), Aguerd (Luizão 63), Kehrer (Laing 56), Scarles (Clayton 46), Swyer (Earthy 71), Souček © (Forson 63), Orford (Potts 46), Benrahma (Kodua 63), Cornet (Chesters 63), Marshall (Mubama 46)
Subs: Anang (GK)

Goals: Cornet 10, Mubama 52

Referee: Morgan Conn