Newton pulls Dags down to earth

Paul Terry flies in on goalkeeper Dean Kiely

Dagenham 0-1 Charlton (after extra time)

Shaun Newton finally broke Dagenham's amazing FA Cup resistance with an extra time winner at Victoria Road.

Newton stole in at the far post to punish the slightest hesitation in an otherwise faultless Dagenham defence a minute into the extra period.

Up until then, Alan Curbishley's Premiership side had been grateful simply to maintain parity as Dagenham produced a performance to match their efforts at the Valley earlier in the month.

It was an enthralling cup tie, though it was circumstance rather than skill which made for such a spectacle.

Dagenham's pitch was hardly Premiership class, but then neither was Charlton's football.

One cannot really be blamed for the other.

Dagenham's Shipp tangles with Salako of Charlton

It had been claimed that you only get one chance of a big upset in the FA Cup.

Dagenham quickly set about disproving that theory, not just holding their illustrious visitors but dominating them.

Garry Hill's part-timers should have been ahead after just six minutes.

Mark Janney rose highest at the far post to meet Jason Broom's deep cross but saw his header fly agonisingly wide.

  Key moments

6 mins - Janney heads narrowly wide for Dagenham

27 mins - Shipp shot turned away by Kiely

43 mins - Roberts brilliantly saves Lisbie shot

78 mins - Shipp drives shot into side netting

81 mins - Charlton sub McDonald heads over crossbar

92 mins - Vickers hesitation lets Newton in for opener

94 mins - Cole's strike disallowed for foul on Kiely

105 mins - Janney fires over with goal at his mercy

That should have served as a wake-up call for the Premiership side, but Charlton were restricted to a long-range Andy Todd shot as Dagenham upped the pressure.

A string of corners midway through the first half had Charlton under all sorts of pressure.

Danny Shipp's turn and shot was superbly pushed round the post by Dean Kiely and Lee Goodwin somehow failed to connect as he stuck out a boot in front of a gaping goal.

I asked my players to reproduce the performance of the first game, but they surpassed even that

  Garry Hill, Dagenham manager

Captain Lee Matthews then saw a stinging free kick diverted goalwards by a cheeky backheel from Junior McDougald, the goal scoring hero from the first game at The Valley.

But the best chance of the half fell to the feet of Charlton striker Kevin Lisbie as Charlton threatened to snatch an undeserved lead.

Shipp so close

The speedy forward looked to be faced with a simple tap-in as the ball came to him four yards out, but his side-foot shot was brilliantly stopped by former QPR keeper Tony Roberts.

The script remained the same throughout the second half, and striker Danny Shipp came agonisingly close to putting the home side in dreamland.

Shipp turned and sent a shot into the side-netting which many fans behind the goal thought had crept in.

At that point, Dagenham were boasting a corner count of 14, which simply underlined the part they were playing in the game.

But the Premiership side were always destined to finish the stronger, especially when the home side lost influential midfielder Paul Terry through injury.

Graeme Stuart dragged a shot inches wide late on and substitute Charlie McDonald headed over with the goal at his mercy in the dying minutes.

Huge achievement

Taking their illustrious rivals the distance was a huge achievement in itself, but the part-timers appeared to still be congratulating themselves as the extra period got under way.

Left back Ashley Vickers hesitated as Lisbie flicked on and Newton needed no second invitation, running in at the far post to steer the ball home for a tight angle.

Dagenham continued to battle and immediately had the ball in the back of the net, only for Tim Cole's strike to be ruled out for a Goodwin foul on Kiely.

But Daggers should have levelled when Janney was presented with a glorious chance.

But the former Tottenham trainee fired over with the goal gaping and saw his dreams of facing his former club disappear the same way.

Instead, it is Charlton who stagger into round four, though the standing ovation Dagenham received at the end was not merely down to the fact that three sides of Victoria Road are without seats.

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Dag & Red: Tony Roberts, Goodwin, Vickers, Cole, Lee Matthews, Terry, Janney, Steve Heffer, Shipp, McDougald, Broom. Subs: Keen, Lomas, Cobb, Haworth, Matt Jones.

Charlton: Kiely, Brown, Rufus, Todd, Fish, Konchesky, Newton, Stuart, Salako, Lisbie, Svensson. Subs: Powell, Robinson, Ilic, Parker, MacDonald.

Referee: A Wiley (Burntwood)