THE round of applause that greeted Garry Hill as he entered the press room for the post-match conference said it all.

Fleet Street scribes are notoriously hard to win over, but minutes after his Daggers had waved goodbye to their FA Cup dream, Garry Hill achieved the impossible with a well deserved chorus of applause.

In sharp contrast, Norwich boss Nigel Worthington's short, sharp answers said it all. This was a relieved man, trying hard to shrug off the fact that his was a team who had narrowly scraped through to the fifth round without having to endure a replay at Victoria Road.

The Norwich manager had just breathed a huge sigh of relief so it was no wonder he had little air left to waste on words of praise for the non-Leaguers.

Maybe Worthington isn't a man of many words, but when you're expected to be gracious in defeat, you should also be gracious in victory. Perhaps owing to the Daggers' terrific performance, the Canaries supremo forgot his side were up against a team 74 league places below his.

Worthington began: "A magnificent result and we're in the next round. Dagenham have done themselves proud and I can see why they got so far.

"We had more chances but their keeper made one or two good saves to keep them out." Something of an understatement about a keeper who has since been nominated for the FA's player of the round award.

"Over the course of play we deserved to go through. We're in the next round of the cup, we've won 1-0, end of story."

Hill on the other hand was full of anecdotes, wise words and reflection: "I'm very empty at the moment we matched them man for man all over the park. Tony Roberts was superb. He's the best non-league goalkeeper in the country."

"We all know football can be a cruel game, and we keep taking the drug by coming back week in week out.

"It was hard to swallow at the Valley when John Salako scored three minutes from time. This time it's got a deflection and out we go, you can't say much more than that."

"It was nice to see everyone around the ground appreciate what my players have done against a Division One side. But I'm just stunned at the moment, you keep looking at the clock and I couldn't see any problems and you think you've done it.

"Nigel Worthington should be very relieved tonight. Everyone who witnessed this here today, even Norwich fans, wouldn't deny us a replay. Because we more than deserved it."

January 30, 2003 10:30