George Abbott and Joel Odeniran. Photo: Darren Woolley

--

Maidenhead United are still searching for their first home league win of the season - and will hope that can come against Dagenham & Redbridge this coming Saturday.

But they did at least stop the rot of three straight league defeats with Tuesday’s improved display in a 1-1 draw with Horsham.

The Magpies at least gave their supporters something to get behind and cheer as they took the game to their visitors in the first half at York Road before tiring in the second period.

Maidenhead came into the game off the back of a desperately disappointing 4-0 away defeat at Ebbsfleet United on Saturday. And that had followed poor performances and results against Tonbridge Angels and Maidstone United, so the mood around the club was fairly low coming into Tuesday’s clash.

That mood has been lifted a little by this performance, but Ryan Peters side still find themselves down in 18th place and only four points above the National League South drop zone.

Peters said: “The performance in the main was pretty good.

We gifted them a goal in the first five minutes which sums us up at this moment in time.

“But I thought we came back into the game, and it didn’t let us deter us from going on the attack.

“We dominated the game and the possession stats. We had the will to attack. We just can’t put it in the back of the net enough times right now. But we’re also leaving the back door open and gifting teams goals at the moment.

“Ironically, it wasn’t a bad start.

“We started well until we slipped up and did something really silly. And it was silly.

“Absolutely no one is giving us goals like we’re giving goals away at the moment. And it does make it harder. We should be sitting here off, and I don’t think anyone could sit here and say we didn’t deserve any points from this game.

“But if we’re going to keep making mistakes in these areas it’s going to become harder. What I will say, is that off the back of three heavy losses, it hasn’t deterred us from trying to play some football. We owe these fans something, and I thought today was going to be the day, but we have Dagenham on Saturday, and we must make sure we’re as good, if not better.

Frustrated - and a little embarrassed - by Saturday’s showing against Ebbsfleet, Peters rang the changes for Tuesday’s home game. Christian N’Guessan dropped back from midfield into central defence alongside Joel Odeniran and George Abbott who were also recalled to the side, with David Mantle, Owen Cochrane and Manny Onariase dropping to the bench.

Dan Nkrumah was selected up front with Alfie Pendlebury a late call up after Josh Umerah had been held up by public transport delays on his way to the ground.

The changes worked well, particularly Pendlebury who took his 10th minute goal well to cancel out Reece Meekums’ fifth minute opener for Horsham. That had followed a poor back pass from N’Guessan which put his team in trouble, but after that he was an assured presence in defence and Maidenhead defended much better overall than they have done in recent matches.

“Josh Umerah was enforced,” said Peters. “I think there was an issue with the train which meant that he didn’t get here on time.

“That allowed Alife to start, and I thought he was very good and worthy of his goal.

“The changes at the back were not enforced. They were decisions that were made.

“I think it’s fair to say that we’re struggling as a team defensively. There are some individuals that aren’t necessarily playing to the level I would expect. We must help them and if that means taking them out of the team for a while to work with them and build their confidence, so be it.

“But we’re not giving themselves a base to go on and win games at the moment and that needs to change.”

He added: “The goal comes from a misplaced back pass from Chris, but you’re right. He’s not a centre half and we’re asking him to play there.

“At this moment in time, I thought it was what we needed.

“Barring the mistake, Christian has been very good for us, and we’re going to need everyone to be at their best to beat a very good Dagenham side.

“It looked like we got tired towards the end. We had Joel who hasn’t played in a while, Dan Nkrumah who hasn’t played in a while, George as well. We just started flag in the latter stages of the game, and that’s not great.

“But while we were fresh, we were very good value other than scoring a few more goals. It would be nice to get our first win on Saturday and that’s what we’re gearing up for.”

It’s now seven home games and counting without a win in the league for Maidenhead, but they’ll hope to build on their improved display - and Dagenham’s recent wobble in form - when the sides meet at York Road this Saturday.

A home win feels like it’s overdue, and whether Maidenhead tired in the second half against Horsham or the visitors improved, they look like they’ve forgotten how to win at York Road right now. Peters will hope that monkey will be lifted from their backs by Saturday evening.

Dagenham are still seventh in the table - and were seen as one of the pre-season favourites for promotion. But they’ve lost their last two away games, including Tuesday’s surprise 2-1 defeat at Braintree Town.

“We’ll harness everything we can,” said Peters. “Up until three games ago I was saying we won’t lose two games in a row. We’ve now lost three in a row, and we must make sure we don’t have that sequence again.

“We haven’t seen a point in a while. Hopefully we can harness this. Defensively we weren’t too bad and against Dagenham we’re going to have to be as tight as we can or they’ll exploit us.”