Dag & Red3

Basingstoke0

THE MAGIC of the FA Cup was brought home to Victoria Road giving Dagenham and Redbridge a 3-0 win over Basingstoke watched by a strong 1,752 crowd, writes Jackie Bass.

Now they are due to face Southport in the first round proper of the oldest cup competition in the world.

The Daggers fought hard to come away from Basingstoke's Camrose ground with a 2-2 draw in their fourth round qualifier two weeks ago.

This time however the tie had to be settled, and the Daggers went about their business well, opening the scoring as early as the third minute.

Ken Charlery squared the ball for Junior McDougald, who burst into the box and drew Basingstoke's keeper, Scott Tarr, off of his line. McDougald cooly slotted home to give Daggers the early lead they needed.

Without this wake-up call for the Dagenham boys, it could have been a very different story. For although Daggers had the majority of the possession, it was the Camrose Blues who had the clearer-cut chances.

Town threw everything forward in a valiant attempt to not get left too far behind, their best chance coming when Tony Sumner outpaced his man on the right wing and sent the ball in to the 18-yard box, Richard Newbery snapped at the ball but only managed to send it straight into the arms of Tony Roberts.

But try as they might, Town could not find an equaliser, and worse was yet to come.

Two minutes before half time, Charlery was put through thanks to a hefty clearance from Roberts and when his attempt smashed into the upright, the force of his shot could not be tamed by town defender Jason Bristow who guided the ball into his own net.

The second half saw Daggers settle down, sitting on their lead, and Town went about their football in a more methodical fashion. The combination of the two styles of football saw a less hurried game and the Victoria Road crowd had to wait until the 73rd minute for the third and final goal.

This was no doubt the goal of the game, and could end up being one of the most memorable of the season for the Daggers.

Danny Shipp motored down the wing and switched the play over to the left flank for Charlery who was by then already anticipating the pinpoint ball to land on his boot.

From a full 30-yards out, Charlery fired a first time volley into the back of the net to seal the tie and send the Daggers faithful into a frenzy of cup magic madness.

f=Helvetica s=6D&R: Roberts, Smith, Vickers (sub: Rooney 75), Goodwin, Broom, Hill, Terry (Shipp 46), McDougald, Charlery (Janney 78), Stein, McGavin.