YORK City were unlucky to fall to back-to-back defeats on the road, as Dagenham & Redbridge stole the three points at Victoria Road.

Michael Morton's side had been leading thanks to a composed Shaq Forde finish, before a goal on either side of half-time for Inih Effiong and Dean Rance rendered Forde's opener as a consolation for the away side.

It was a good finish from Forde to gift York the lead, as Ryan Fallowfield broke through for City before squaring to Forde, who tucked the ball home on the stretch.

Despite early dominance from the Minstermen, Effiong drew the scores level on the brink of half-time after smashing Junior Morias' pass home. 

And Rance settled the tie, finding himself unmarked in the box before heading past a stranded Ryan Whitley.

City weren't the only side to be instated with an interim manager, with David Jupp in interim charge at the Daggers after the club parted ways with Daryl McMahon.

York haven't managed to defeat Dagenham in the league since 2014, as a brace from Wes Fletcher and a goal from Ryan Bowman meant that Rhys Murphy’s late goal was merely a consolation in a 3-1 victory for the Minstermen.

The stories are all about Wrexham’s American ownership this season, but Dagenham join the Red Dragons in the trend, as former Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard has had shares in the club since 2018.

Morton named two changes for his York side, with Michael Duckworth and Mark Ellis replacing Fraser Kerr and Maziar Kouhyar in the starting eleven.

This prompted a change of formation, with Morton returning to a five at the back operation with Duckworth playing centrally.

Manny Duku also came back into the squad but only onto the bench, with Ollie Tanner not being selected to be involved at all.

Morton’s change in team selection appeared to be a clever decision in the early stages, with the Minstermen asserting an early dominance.

Just four minutes in York should have arguably been in the lead. Some nice link-up play involving Lenell John-Lewis and Fallowfield ended with the former blasting over the bar from 17-yards out, with just Elliot Justham to beat.

Forde did eventually make the breakthrough, but came within inches of opening the scoring even earlier when latching onto the remnants of a good Fallowfield challenge. The Watford loanee raced towards goal before cutting inside of his man and dragging his strike wide of the target.

And just a minute later, City would be left feeling hard done by after a mix-up between the Daggers. A short pass from Dean Rance towards Josh Hare on a free-kick saw John-Lewis steal the ball back, and with the striker bearing down on goal, he was harshly challenged by Hare and booked.

Mark Ellis has become well-known in recent weeks for the threat of his long throw, and it was another weapon to be used as his daunting throw fell to Dan Pybus on the edge. Pybus sliced the volley on the edge, seeing the ball fall to John-Lewis who couldn’t get the ball out of his feet before missing out on a massive chance.

Dagenham weren’t just going to roll over however, and launched an attack of their own as Myles Weston threatened down the wing, but his cross proved harmless.

On the half-an-hour mark, City capitalised on their pressure.

A threaded through ball from Mitch Hancox sent Fallowfield in behind, and whilst the defender didn’t perhaps have the pace to escape the on-rushing Dagenham defenders, his low cross into Forde was calmly tucked home by the young striker to send those City fans behind the net into jubilation.

The Daggers responded well to falling behind however, as Rance launched a shot from the edge of the box at speed, but a brave Maxim Kouogun block denied an immediate equaliser.

Nevertheless, the Daggers wouldn’t have to wait long.

A darting run from Junior Morias allowed the attacker to propel a clever through the ball into the path of the towering Effiong, who was calm in rifling the ball past Ryan Whitley to draw the scores level on the brink of half-time.

Heading into the second half, York looked to establish a similar early dominance to what they did in the first half. 

A long-ranged free-kick fell to John-Lewis on the edge of the box, who expertly held up the ball before laying it back to Hancox, but his strike was too tame to really test Justham. 

But City's biggest chance of the half perhaps fell to the wrong man. 

John-Lewis was once again the architect, as he rolled his marked and fed the ball through to Whittle. The defender found himself one-on-one with Justham, but couldn't force the ball past the outstretched Daggers goalkeeper. 

Hancox had another chance to test Justham again from the edge of the box, but once again he struggled to work the Dagenham goalkeeper too much.

And despite the constant City pressure, it was the home side who took the lead. 

Morias nabbed himself another high-quality assist, as he weaved his way down the right hand side and launched a floating cross onto the head of Rance, who was confident in heading past a stationary Whitley. 

York were unable to place their stamp on the match after falling behind again, and after some resilient Dagenham defending, the Daggersd saw the game out.

Dagenham & Redbridge: Justham, Sagaf (Johnson 80), Hare, Onariase, Ling, Rance, Robinson, Weston, Morias, Effiong, Balanta (Saunders 85)

Subs not used: Janneh, Bird, Ibie

Goals: Effiong (44) Rance (71)

Yellow cards: Hare (13)

York City: Whitley 5, Fallowfield 7 (Kouhyar 6, 69), Duckworth 6, Ellis 6, Kouogun 6, Whittle 6, Pybus 6, Hancox 7 (Duku, 78), Dyson 6, Forde 7, John-Lewis 7

Subs not used: Kerr, McLaughlin, Campbell

Goals: Forde (30)

York’s star man: Ryan Fallowfield. A fantastic performance from wing-back, earning himself an assist and providing an option down that right-hand side constantly. Was only substitued off for a change of formation.

Referee: Paul Marsden

Attendance: 1718

Shots (on target): 1 (3) | 2 (5)

Corners: 2 | 2

Offsides: 1 | 1

Fouls committed: 10 | 8