Dagenham & Redbridge were knocked out of the Essex Senior Cup on penalties by Heybridge Swifts following a 1-1 draw at the Chigwell Construction Stadium on Tuesday night.
Dominant Half
Shamir Mullings opened the scoring for the Daggers after 15 minutes, as he raced onto a long ball, cut inside to beat his man, and fired a shot underneath Haigh in the Heybridge net.
Mullings had a big chance to make it 2-0 after 25 minutes, as he intercepted a Heybridge back pass, but he could only hit his effort straight at the on-rushing Haigh.
Despite dominating the first 45 minutes and creating the match’s biggest chances, the score-line remained only 1-0 in Daggers’ favour at half time.
Swift Revival
The second half saw Heybridge grow into the game and they made their resurgence count after 65 minutes as Krasniqi ran onto a loose ball, rounded Moore, and slotted into the empty net to draw the match level at 1-1.
The final 25 minutes saw the Daggers chase the winner, but despite creating chances, the game remained level. Leighton had the pick of the opportunities as a swift Daggers counter attack saw Kandi pull the ball back to Leighton in space, but the striker’s shot was comfortably saved by Haigh.
Penalty Misery
With the scores level after 90 minutes the match headed to the dreaded penalty shoot-out. Both sides missed their first two penalties before Harfield and Sorondo converted either side’s third.
Neither team could convert their fourth penalties to leave the shoot-out tied at 1-1, heading into the decisive fifth penalty. Unfortunately Mullings saw his penalty saved by Haigh, before Gardner scored to send Heybridge through to the fourth round of the Essex Senior Cup, winning 2-1 on penalties.
