To be a Dagger is to go into the game as favourites, only to go two goals down after 12 minutes and salvage a point at the end of it all.

That’s what was served up to us home supporters in an eventful opener last Saturday.

For all the drama and hype that comes with a last-minute equaliser, courtesy of Junior Morias on this occasion, you couldn’t help but think, what if we didn’t get that goal?

It would’ve meant an opening-day defeat to a newly-promoted Gateshead side with shades of last season’s woes once again hindering our progress.

These defensive errors saw two soft goals given away, twice the visitors slicing through the Daggers defensive line to put the ball into the back of the net, leaving fans with concerns of little or no improvement on last season.

However, following the introduction of David Longe-King, his commanding and imposing nature left us with some hope that things may be different.

I would definitely expect to see Longe-King in the starting line-up at Woking this Saturday, with whom remains to be seen, but it’s an area of the pitch that Daryl McMahon will have to settle on soon - which back three will guide us to the play-offs?

Leaving those concerns to one side, the two goals we scored once we got going were impressive, a determined Paul McCallum with a bullet header following his penalty miss. Then that beautiful Morias last-gasp equaliser, holding off his opponent to swivel and nestle the ball in the bottom corner.

The new acquisition at the back (Longe-King) impressed, while the other new signing introduced to the Daggers faithful on his competitive debut was Omar Mussa in the heart of the midfield. I think he is yet to win over every supporter after his performance, however there were glimpses of quality and he definitely showed what he’s capable of, if not 100 per cent of the time.

Mussa's performance is reflective of the team’s as a whole in a way, appearing disjointed for all the effort and determination to impress, a far from polished performance with glimpses of quality - leaving it far from a quality display.

However, there were views that we would have been condemned to a defeat in games like that last season, not at our best and unable to salvage even a point. In that respect you might even see it as a sign of improvement, able to grind out results, albeit we should have been in a position to take all three points.

Ultimately, it is to be expected that a team with new players in key areas at the start of the campaign looks slightly unpolished, but you’d expect them to start shining soon if McMahon’s men are to reach the play-offs.

What better place to get a win to kickstart the campaign than Woking, themselves looking to bounce back from an opening-day defeat, with something still to prove also - it is sure to be an enticing encounter.

Hopefully the Daggers can put in a coherent display, defensively-assured and offensively-clinical, to get a first win of the season and points on the board.

Until next week, Come On You Daggers!