Dagenham & Redbridge 0 Barrow AFC 0

Not for the first time this season – far from it – Barrow AFC couldn’t quite turn what was a positive performance into a result as their match at Dagenham & Redbridge ended in stalemate.

It was a close-run contest at Victoria Road between two well-matched teams, who each had their chances to claim the points, only for a cutting edge to elude both of them.

The Bluebirds were much quicker out of the blocks than in their last outing and often worked themselves into promising positions, only to be denied by some solid Daggers defending.

That eventually meant a third straight away win eluded them, although if some of their players are playing for their future, then they wouldn’t have done their chances any harm in East London.

Captain Josh Granite returned from an ankle injury to make his first first-team appearance in almost three months, as he replaced Steve Jennings in what was the only change to the line-up from last week’s defeat against Boreham Wood.

It took nine minutes for Granite to make his presence felt, as he put in a perfectly-time challenge to dispossess Conor Wilkinson, who looked poised to shoot in the penalty area.

Some good defending from Dagenham’s Manny Onariase then prevented a chance for Jack Hindle, who had been picked out by a wonderful cross-field pass by Josh Kay.

Barrow had started the better side and were getting in behind their hosts on numerous occasions, only for them to recover well with some last-ditch challenges.

The first big chance of the game arrived after 25 minutes when Lewis Hardcastle’s whipped-in free kick was flicked on by Jamie Philpot, who was denied a first AFC goal by a good save from Elliot Justham.

The game then entered a real lull in proceedings that was only livened up when Kenny Clark’s looping header from Angelo Balanta’s chipped ball across came back off the post with Joel Dixon stranded.

Barring that late scare, the Bluebirds’ goal hadn’t really been threatened in the first half, which remained deadlocked going into the break.

It was Barrow’s turn to be denied by the woodwork just three minutes after the restart as Sam Hird’s cross was met by a firm header from John Rooney, with the ball coming back off the cross bar.

Clark then almost came up with a late contender for own goal of the season when he sent a wild back pass a long way wide of Justham and not far wide of his own post.

The Daggers fashioned what was still, for them, a rare chance in the 63rd minute when Wilkinson knocked the ball back across for Balanta, who couldn’t keep his shot down.

That opening did precede a better spell for the hosts, who were now starting to see more of the ball after their manager Peter Taylor had made a double substitution at half-time.

As the game moved into its closing stages, Barrow were given a free kick in a very dangerous position, just outside the box, but Hardcastle couldn’t get his strike to dip under the bar.

Both teams pressed for a winner and the Bluebirds came very close to finding one as the clocked ticked towards 90 minutes when Philpot controlled Jack Barthram’s pass excellently before volleying just wide.

Had it flown in, it would have paid back the Daggers for their late, late show at Holker Street back in September, but as it was, this was another afternoon where AFC couldn’t find that finishing touch to reward their display.

Dagenham & Redbridge (5-3-2): Justham, Nunn (Robinson 45), Clark, Onariase, Smith, Harfield, Munns (Kandi 45), Wright, Loft, Balanta, Wilkinson

Subs not used: Moore, McQueen, Adeloye

Barrow AFC (3-1-4-2): Dixon, Hird, Granite, Jones, Taylor, Kay (Barthram 73), Rooney, Hardcastle, Norrington-Davies, Philpot, Hindle (Reid 77)

Subs not used: Elsdon, Sloan, Molyneux

Referee: Samuel Allison

Attendance: 2,173