Groin strain victim Steve Ketteridge missed the trip to East London as the Ducks suffered their second away defeat in a row having lost 2-1 at Windsor & Eton on Easter Monday.

The strong Dagenham defence easily coped with the United forward line, and after 27 minutes Junior Wilson replaced an ineffective Carl Zachhau. A minute later came the only goal of the game when Mark Lawrence was brought down by Kevin Day and skipper Pat Staunton scored from the resulting penalty despite a brave attempt by keeper Tim Garner.

Glen Donegal headed just wide shortly afterwards, and on 38 minutes a strong run by Allan Pluckrose ended with a cross into the area. Glen controlled and shot towards the top right hand corner but Daggers' Dave Morgan tipped over for a corner.

The second half belonged to the Ducks who pressed forward throughout. A close range effort by Glen deflected wide, and a rasping first time drive from the same player narrowly went over the bar.

On 78 minutes Cliff Hercules was bundled over in the box by Gary Seymour for a clear penalty, but the referee ignored the strong appeals - one of a number of strange decisions all afternoon. A minute into injury time a cross by Graham Reed was headed just over by Hercules to bring an end to United's Championship hopes for another season.