VALE fans may have had to endure 502 painful minutes without a goal, but it was almost worth the wait as Jennison Myrie-Williams's sublime strike set up a first victory in seven games.

The 23-year-old winger hammered home a stunning 20-yard shot seconds after Daggers striker Brian Woodall had handed the hosts a 23-minute lead.

Fellow loan attacker Guy Madjo secured Vale's deserved 2-1 win with his first goal for the club on 65 minutes.

Myrie-Williams's strike meant Vale did not surpass their previous record of 556 minutes without a goal, which was set 47 years ago.

More importantly, the on-loan Stevenage duo helped Micky Adams's side move to within striking distance of the League Two play-off zone as they now trail the top seven by just three points.

The manager said: "We wanted the win to feel better about ourselves and to lift the spirits of the club, which I feel have been a little flat recently.

"When I look back at the games we've lost, we had some great chances but either poor finishing or good goalkeeping kept us out. But there has been a real resolve about us in the last two games.

"The word 'crisis' is used around clubs too easily, and the boys have certainly heard that our club's in crisis.

"But one or two wins get you right back into the frame and can lift the doom and gloom – that's what they did at Dagenham.

"You can't get too carried away with poor runs. All teams suffer blips, and I'm not saying we've come through ours yet.

"But there is a resolve among the players to get results and put things right."

Vale ran out worthy winners, although it took Goodall's goal to jolt them into life following a scrappy and tight opening 20-minute period.

But they finally settled down in the wake of Myre-Williams's goal and imposed their superior passing game on a Daggers side who displayed plenty of endeavour but lacked quality.

Mryie-Williams and fellow winger Rob Taylor were crucial elements in making Adams's 4-4-2 system work as their flashes of brilliance ultimately were the difference between the teams.

Adams hailed the "amazing" impact of Myrie-Williams since his arrival at the club last month, but Madjo also contributed heavily with some impressive hold-up play.

Vale's 203 travelling fans certainly appreciated their efforts – although the same couldn't be said of Dagenham centre-half Exodus Geohaghon.

The 26-year-old's loan spell with Vale was cut short last March after he became embroiled in an ugly confrontation with his own fans at Accrington.

And a section of the Vale support at Dagenham clearly weren't ready to forgive and forget as they booed and jeered Geohaghon's every touch.

There were very few chances of note in the opening period, Daggers' midfielder Gavin Tomlin firing over the bar and the lively Taylor inches away from connecting with a Tom Pope cross at the other end.

But the game sparked into life on 22 minutes when Vale keeper Stuart Tomlinson beat away two well-struck drives from Dagenham wide man Jon Nurse.

Geohaghon then defied the boo-boys by playing an important role in the game's opening goal a minute later when he looped over a cross from the right.

The ball was allowed to bounce into the path of the unmarked Goodall, whose seven-yard half-volley found the right-hand corner of the net.

But Vale hit back seconds later when the industrious Pope fed Myre-Williams on the edge of the Dagenham penalty box, from where the winger curled home a superb left-foot effort into the top right-hand corner of the net.

The goal sparked Vale into life, but they still struggled to convert their dominance into clear-cut chances.

Pope's 34th-minute volley had to be tipped over by Daggers stopper Chris Lewington, while Vale keeper Tomlinson emulated the feat by pushing over a Woodall drive just after the break.

Madjo fired just wide, but then took full advantage of Taylor's excellent wing play to bag Vale's winner on 65 minutes.

Taylor sped past Michael Spillane and Geohaghon down the left before swinging over a cross for Madjo to hook the ball into the Dagenham net from seven yards out.

Vale pretty much cruised over the finishing line as six-goal striker Marc Richards ended his month-long injury layoff by jumping off the substitutes' bench to replace Madjo on 74 minutes.

Lewington came to the fore again to palm away Pope's stinging effort before the keeper turned around Richards's rasping edge-of-the-box drive on 80 minutes.

Another Pope shot was again repelled by Lewington with two minutes remaining, but the keeper's heroics counted for nothing as a ninth successive defeat saw Dagenham slip to the bottom of the table.

"We were disappointed with the goal we conceded because it came from a little bit of flaky defending," added Adams.

"But we responded magnificently. Jennison has been amazing, and he scored a great goal to get us back in it.

"You don't realise how much ability he's got.

"We dominated the play for the rest of the half and I told the lads to keep going at half-time as I was sure another goal would come because we were the better team."

Turning his attention to Saturday's home clash with Aldershot, Adams added: "It's about making little steps.

"We haven't moved up the table, but we've got a little bit closer to the play-off pack, which is important.

"Saturday's game is a big one for us. We need a big home performance and we need our supporters to get behind the team.

"Let's hope we can feel better about ourselves with a decent home performance.

"It's just three points, but hopefully we'll build on the result."

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