Spenny out of FA Trophy

SPENNYMOOR Town’s bid to reach the quarter-final of the FA Trophy came to an end with a brave defeat at Dagenham and Redbridge.

The Moors made a positive start against their National League hosts as top-scorer Glen Taylor brought a smart stop out of Daggers keeper Elliot Justham.

A Junior Morias effort that was narrowly off-target was the only real scare for the visitors, who almost took a lead into half-time as Joe Tait’s header was taken by Justham just before the interval.

All of the positives of the first-half were quickly undone with minutes of the restart as the hosts took the lead.

DAGENHAM AND REDBRIDGE SPENNYMOOR 2 0

There were 47 minutes on the clock when half-time substitute Paul Mccallum sent a header goalwards and Moors keeper Jordan Amissah got something on but was unable to prevent the loose ball ending up in his net.

With confidence flowing after breaking the deadlock, the Daggers pushed forwards with Josh Walker bringing a fine save out of the Moors number one.

However, the turning point in the game arrived just before the hour-mark when Moors centre-back James Curtis was shown a controversial red card for what looked a tough but fair challenge on George Saunders. The Daggers forward was stretchered off with players on both sides visibly shaken by the injury he suffered during the tackle.

Hosts captain Will Wright struck the crossbar with the resulting free-kick – but his side secured their place in Monday’s last-eight draw when Junior Morais headed in their second goal of the game with 13 minutes remaining.

DAGENHAM AND REDBRIDGE: Justham, Wright, Clark, Reynolds, Ling, Rance, Comley, Jones (Mccallum), Saunders (Johnson), Morias (Sagaf ), Walker Subs: Lawlor, Robinson, Akanbi, Nkwonta

SPENNYMOOR TOWN: Amissah, Richardson, Pye, Chandler, Curtis, Tait, Spokes (Mulhern), Moke, Ramshaw, Taylor, Hall Subs: Thompson, Anderson, Hindson, Short, Eve