This time last year I wrote a top '10 Football Moments of the Year' and the hardest part was restricting it to just 10. It had been a great footballing year and I had to leave out many great memories. But this year the opposite is true. Just finding 10 moments has been a struggle, but I will try.
1. Peterborough 5 Daggers 0 - May
It may not seem like such a great memory on paper, but it was a great day to be a Dagger. To see over 1,000 fans make the trip for a match in which we needed a point to stay up was amazing, and the team did not let us down. Yes, we got hammered in the end by a team that were promoted to The Championship, but the lads were magnificent in the first half, and the emotional scenes at the end will live with me forever. To hear the passion from both John Still and Mark Arber at the end brought home just how much the club means to them.
2. Thornley Celtic 4 Darlington RA 2 - February
A little self-indulgence if I may. Having left the RA the previous September, after a new manager arrived and brought in his own players, me and a few of the lads joined struggling Thornley so were looking forward to this match. Darlington were in the top 4 and we were bottom, but with four ex-RA players in our team we tore them apart. I had the best game of my life, scoring 1, creating 2 others and getting man of the match, as we got our own little piece of revenge. It didn't help in the over-all scheme of things, as we were relegated in the end anyway, but for 90 minutes we played like Champions.
3. Manchester United 8 Arsenal 2 - August
Again not an obvious highlight, but the atmosphere in the second half made up for what was happening on the pitch. Singing 'We love you Arsenal, we do' for virtually the entire second period, even as United kept on scoring, was superb and were rewarded with a ticket refund from the club and some new signings a week later. Even now Emerson still talks about that match and, despite the result, he says it is his favourite ever away game.
4. Arsenal 2 Sunderland 1 - October
My 30th Anniversary match and a magical free kick from Robin van Persie made it day to remember. He also scored the fastest ever Emirates goal, after just 28 seconds, which meant we had witnessed a little piece of history as well. Many things had changed since my first match in 1981, not least the price of tickets, but one thing that hadn't was the feeling you get from seeing your team win. Now that is timeless.
5. Hartlepool 0 Daggers 1 - January
Almost the perfect away performance, especially for me with my North-East base. We soaked up the early pressure and then broke out to win it in the last few minutes. It was the start of a good run that almost kept us in League One, but was memorable for me due to an encounter with ex-Premier League referee Jeff Winter. He was broadcasting in the press box and mentioned Emerson and me in his post-match blog, after we apparently 'barged' past him. Of course he forgot to mention the fact that he had caused Emerson to spill a hot cup of tea but, having seen his refereeing performances down the years, I guess eyesight was never his strong point.
6. Leeds 1 Arsenal 3 - January
I was lucky enough to be in the front row for this televised FA Cup replay and was spotted by the TV cameras after each of our goals. To make the night even better I managed to catch Szczesny's gloves at the end of the match, when he threw them into the crowd - a lovely memento for Emerson, who was not allowed to go as it was a school night.
7. Rolls Royce 1 Richmond Town Vets 2 - August
Another piece of self-indulgence. The first match of the season for the newly-formed Richmond Town Vets and I scored both goals, including a last minute winner, as we got off to the perfect start. In fact it has been Richmond Town that has given me most to enjoy this footballing year, as we go into 2012 five points clear at the top of the league.
8. Daggers 2 Gillingham 1- December
After a difficult year, the Daggers at least ended it in style with this great win over the high-flying Gills. Despite going a goal down early on we fought back with two great goals from Billy Bingham and Brian Woodall to move up to the dizzy heights of 20th place. Having beaten Barnet on Boxing Day as well it means we can now look forward to the New Year with renewed hope of avoiding a second consecutive relegation.
9. Wigan 0 Arsenal 4 - December
In a year of so few highs, a 4-0 away win just has to be included. It was actually a very good game and showed the new-found confidence in the team. The fact that Chelsea and Liverpool only managed to draw here in the following couple of weeks made this result all the more impressive, and it did lift us briefly into the top 4.
10. Daggers 3 Carlisle 0 - April
It was a toss-up between this and the home win over Charlton in March, but this just made the cut for the importance of the match. It was our last home game of the season and we had to win to keep our survival hopes alive. As it turned out we played superbly throughout and the game included the last ever goal for the club by Danny Green, which made Emerson's day. However he later received a red card and that proved crucial in the end as he was suspended for the last match at Peterborough, a sad way to end his two years with us.
So there you have it. Not a vintage year by any means. The Daggers not only got relegated back to League Two but have spent a vast majority of this season in the bottom two, while Arsenal went from title contenders in January to a laughing stock by August. Thankfully things have ended on a high, with two great wins for the Daggers and a series of good performances from Arsenal that has seen them back challenging for a place in the top 4. Meanwhile, of course, my Richmond Town Vets team have gone from strength to strength as we challenge for the title going into the New Year.
Here's hoping for a better 2012...
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