Cup competitions have never been respectful of form, and so it proved at The Valley Stadium. Redditch United, struggling to maintain their position in the Nationwide Conference North, hosted and vanquished the team who sit 44 places above them atop non-league’s top division.
True to the script for giant-killing exploits, the pitch and weather conditions played their part. The slope on the pitch, tricky underfoot conditions and a swirling wind made playing the passing game beloved of Dagenham & Redbridge difficult.

 
 
To blame the scoreline on the conditions, though, would be an injustice to the home side, who chased and tackled with gusto and took the three good opportunities that they created.

When Mark Benson put the visiting team in front two minutes into the second half it seemed that the formbook would prevail. But in a period of sustained pressure Redditch breached the Dagenham rearguard with a strike from the edge of the penalty area from Scott Rickards and two goals from Simon Hollis — a free kick and a penalty. Sam Sloma reduced the deficit with 17 minutes left, claiming the best goal of the game, a 35-yard drive.

“The pitch gave us a typical cup-tie and we made no secret that we wanted to make it like that,” Gary Whild, the manager of Redditch, said. “I think we rose to the occasion.”

But the biggest concern for Whild is his side’s inability to reproduce that form in their league programme. “Hopefully this will kick-start us now.”

John Still, the Dagenham manager, has been around the football world long enough to take such setbacks in his stride. “In the 90 minutes we created enough chances to have won the match but didn’t take them,” he said.

For Still it is back to the push for Football League status without good players — Craig Mackail-Smith and Shane Blackett join Peterborough United this month.

Redditch United (4-4-2): R Anstiss — D Whitcombe, S Rea, E Geohaghon, R Softley — R Taylor (sub: S Alsop, 75min), J Clarke (sub: F Francis, 69), B Petty, S Rickards (sub: R Adams, 90) — S Hollis, C Palmer. Substitutes not used: C Cottrill, A Walker.

Dagenham & Redbridge (4-4-2): T Roberts — S Griffiths, A Uddin, D Foster, S Sloma — S Blackett, J Leberl. G Southam, C Akurang (sub: B Strevens, 69) — C Mackail-Smith, P Benson. Substitutes not used: S Saunders, B Lettejallon, D Hogan, T Cole.