Oxford United 2 Dagenham & Redbridge 3

George Dugdale

Tom Craddock's brace was not enough to rescue a disappointing Oxford United from a home defeat to Dagenham & Redbridge. Strikes from Sam Williams, Luke Howell and Luke Wilkinson gave the visitors the points, despite Kevin Maher's dismissal in the second half.

Wilder opted to keep the defence who kept a clean sheet at Barnet at the weekend, but Alfie Potter's hamstring injury meant that a reshuffle was needed in the middle four. Lee Cox replaced the winger, with Adam Chapman taking up a place on the right of a 4-4-2 formation. Tom Craddock returned up front in place of Jon-Paul Pittman. Liam Davis made a welcome return to the squad after injury as he took a place on the bench.

The tone for fixtures is so often set in the opening minutes and United were second best throughout. John Still's Daggers will always be competitive, organised and willing, For large periods of the first half this proved too much for Oxford to cope with. A combative five in midfield allowed Cox and Leven little time on the ball and United struggled to string attacks together as a result. Only Ryan Clarke's fine full-length save kept Medy Elito's low drive from opening the scoring in the first ten minutes.

James Constable hooked a lob from a Tony Capaldi long-throw onto the roof of the Dagenham net, before the same player was denied by goalkeeper Chris Lewington after Tom Craddock's through-ball had sent the striker clear of the defence.

United's attacks were lacking the cohesiveness that had been seen against Wycombe, Barnet and Accrington and Dagenham were still playing the majority of the game in the Oxford half. Jake Wright was forced to clear Dwight Gayle's header off the line after Clarke had been beaten to a loose ball, before Dagenham took a deserved lead. A corner was fired in at the near post and Sam Williams met the ball first to send it past Clarke. There may even have been a decisive touch off a defender as the ball flew past Clarke to give the visitors the lead.

Constable was provided with a great chance to level shortly before the break as Chapman's pass with the outside of the foot sent him clean through, but a heavy touch allowed a mixture of goalkeeper and defender to smuggle the ball behind.

With Dagenham bringing few supporters to raise the atmosphere and the performance doing little to help, United needed something to change at half-time.

However, it was Still's men who found the next goal. Moments after Jon-Paul Pittman had replaced the already booked Lee Cox, Gayle's strike was too hot for Clarke to handle and Howell prodded home to double the advantage. United had the opportunity to clear the ball before Gayle's strike and were left to rue their sloppiness with a mountain left to climb.

United quickly set about building base-camp as Sean Rigg raced down the left wing to cross for Craddock to volley home superbly with his left foot to halve the defecit, but their good work was undone minutes later as another corner looped into the six-yard box for Luke Wilkinson to power a header home.

The goalscoring didn't stop there and it was Dagenham's turn to make their manager fume with woeful defending. Femi Ilesanmi left a backpass horribly (wonderfully) short and Craddock pounced. His contact wasn't the cleanest as a defender attempted to block from his blind-side, but the ball hit the net anyway as the striker's tenth goal of the season gave United renewed hope.

This hope turned to expectation moments later as Maher, who had earlier been booked for a cynical foul on the breaking Constable, clattered into a late challenge with Leven and saw red.

Simon Heslop replaced Andy Whing, who had not had one of his better nights to give United some fresh ideas in midfield as Chapman moved to right-back, his third position of the night. Davis also saw his first action of the season as he replaced Capaldi.

Frustratingly, United failed to make their numerical advantage count and continued to squander cheap possession to the visitors, who were now working even harder for their team-mates. A clever free-kick move almost caught them out as Heslop pulled the ball back for Constable. His effort was off target and the stretching Craddock could only divert the ball over the crossbar.

Lewington then produced a sublime save to deny Chapman's left-footed volley after Davis had pulled the ball back from the byline.

United continued to press but Wilkinson marshalled his defence superbly in the dying stages to give Dagenham the victory.

United had been poor and despite showing some fight in the second half, came nowhere near the level of performance that has been seen in recent weeks. Very few players provided the performances that they are capable of and without Potter providing a spark on the flank, the team struggled to have any impact in the first half. Yesterday's article on these pages spoke about the exciting 4-4-2 United have been using in recent weeks, but this was the rigid, predictable version of the system that we can't afford to see. We were outnumbered and outfought in midfield, outclassed in possession and utterly daft with many of our ideas when calm heads were needed.

The performance picked up when United were 3-1 down, but we gifted a hard-working, yet ultimately poor Dagenham side a lead to cling to. It is easier to list the positive performances than the negatives, with Heslop and Davis were bright after their introduction, Rigg lively and Craddock finishing well. Many of the positive aspects of United performances were missing.

The theory of keeping a defence who kept a clean-sheet together makes sense in some ways, but Barnet were so woeful that we would have done well to concede whoever we had played there. Furthermore, Johnny Mullins had done nothing to lose his place, other than be contracted to a club who didn't want him to play. When Mullins and Jake Wright have played together at centre-back, United have not looked like conceding goals. When Chris Wilder watches the DVD of the game back tomorrow and is forced to relive the dreadful nature of the goals we conceded, he will regret leaving Mullins out.

The problem area for Saturday's game will be the right side of the midfield four, if Potter's hamstring injury keeps him out. United were vulnerable down that flank all evening and didn't pose anywhere near enough threat when going forward. The attacking runs of Whing from the Barnet game were totally lost and Chapman looked every bit a central midfielder playing out of position. Before the game I was keen for Chapman to play on the right to ensure that Constable and Craddock could continue to flourish in a 4-4-2, but we need to find a way of making the right side stronger when Torquay come to town.

The entire performance will need to be stronger.

Referee Sargingson got the red card decision correct and although a nibble at the ankles of Rigg in the area may have produced greater punishment, his performance was solid. His time management left a lot to be desired as Dagenham allowed the clock to tick down, but his in-game decisions were largely correct. Lee Cox and Adam Chapman were booked for United.

That defeat moves the visitors above United into 15th, while Oxford drop to 19th, five points off the play-off places. Leaders Gillingham drew 0-0 with Cheltenham, while Port Vale failed to capitalise with a 2-2 draw at home to Rochdale. Cheltenham remain in third. Fleetwood and Rotherham drew 1-1, while Bradford remain in the play-offs after a draw with Chesterfield. Torquay, United's opponents on Saturday, slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Barnet.

Aldershot and Wycombe are two of the teams at the bottom on 13 points after a 0-0 draw, while Barnet's win pulls them level. Southend won 3-2 at Bristol Rovers, while Exeter City beat AFC Wimbledon 2-0. Morecambe and Accrington shared a goalless draw, while York City and Northampton drew 1-1.

Attendance: 5,074.