Dagenham & Redbridge 1 Worthing 2: Daggers beaten by Rebels in FA Trophy shock

Corey Whitely of Dagenham & Redbridge and Brannon O’Neill of Worthing (pic: David Simpson/TGS Photo) ©TGS Photo tgsphoto.co.uk +44 1376 553468

FA Trophy first round: Dagenham & Redbridge 1 (Benson 40) Worthing 2 (Staunton o.g. 62, Dawes 71)

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Dagenham & Redbridge are out of the FA Trophy after a surprise 2-1 loss at home to Worthing of the Ryman Premier.

The Essex club toiled for much of the first half, but finally took the lead through Paul Benson shortly before the break.

However, the Rebels produced a storming fightback in the second period to take a deserved lead and knock the National League promotion hopefuls out of the competition.

Daggers named a strong XI for the Trophy clash, demonstrating how seriously they appear to be taking the competition this season.

In an expected change, Mark Cousins replaced Elliot Justham in goal, as he had done for all cup matches this season.

The other alteration saw Frankie Raymond come in for Luke Guttridge, who dropped out of the matchday squad altogether.

Oliver Hawkins was named on the bench after overcoming the back injury that ruled him out of the win at Dover Athletic last weekend, while academy left-back Liam Gordon was also named among the substitutes.

The opening 10 minutes at Victoria Road were fairly placid, with a couple of half chances for both sides, but neither keeper was properly tested.

Daggers, however, nearly fell behind in the 16th minute when Worthing forward Omar Bugiel shrugged off a challenge from Scott Doe and broke into the box.

Bugiel’s effort, though, smacked against the base of the post before rebounding kindly into the arms of Cousins.

It was an effort that seemed to wake the Essex club up as they too went close to opening the scoring a minute later.

Striker Benson laid the ball into the path of Corey Whitely who shot first-time from 18 yards, but he opened his foot up too much and his effort went hopelessly wide.

With 20 minutes left in the half, Cousins was behind again as he comfortably caught a powerful, long-range effort from Rebels skipper Kane Wills.

The Daggers keeper was certainly being kept busy in the first half, saving a dipping half-volley from 20 yards by Lloyd Dawes in the 33rd minute.

Mercifully, the deadlock was broken with five minutes to go until half-time when Paul Benson scored the first home goal of his second spell with the club.

A ball in from the right by Jordan Maguire-Drew was poorly dealt with by Worthing defender Will Hendon, who seemed to stop it dead rather than clear his lines.

The ball was there for Benson to pick up, and the 37-year-old was only too happy to tap in from close range.

It allowed Daggers to take something of a fortunate in lead into the break, but aware they still needed to do much better after the break.

John Still’s men almost added to their advantage seven minutes after the restart when Maguire-Drew embarked on a solo run from just inside his own half.

The on-loan Brighton & Hove Albion winger broke past a foul by Sam Rents before moving into a central position, but his 20-yard shot at the end was straight at Rebels keeper Jack Fagan.

Maguire-Drew was clearly inspired after the break against his former club, almost setting up Benson for a second in the 59th minute, but the striker narrowly missed out on getting a telling touch to the ball across the box.

Those misses proved costly as just three minutes later, Worthing drew level when Josh Staunton turned a cross into his own net.

Worthing defender Hendon delightfully controlled the ball on the edge of the area with his first touch, taking him into the box before sliding the ball across goal, with the Daggers defender getting the final touch.

With 20 minutes remaining, Worthing almost took the lead when Dawes shot from 20 yards, but his volley narrowly cleared the ball.

However, the winger atoned less than a minute later, pouncing on a poor back pass from Magnus Okuonghae before slotting under the advancing Cousins.

Dawes was almost at the double in the 77th minute, but saw his effort saved at the near post by Cousins.

In the minutes which remained, the Essex club were unable to find the response they craved as they suffered a chastening early exit from the Trophy.

And Still will now have to regroup his troops ahead of hosting Solihull Moors in the league next Saturday.

Daggers (4-2-3-1): Cousins; Staunton, Doe, Okuonghae, Widdowson; Boucaud, Raymond; Maguire-Drew (Heard 88), Whitely, Assombalonga (Hawkins 46); Benson (White 79)

Subs: Justham, Gordon

Worthing (4-4-2): Fagan; Hendon, Heath, Cook, Rents; Dawes, Wills, O’Neill (Edwards 69), Sparks (Brodie 88); Bugiel, Newton

Subs: Belward, Boiling, Watson

Attendance: Not given

Referee: Chris O’Donnell