Dagenham & Redbridge suffered a disappointing defeat against Yeovil in their mid-table battle at Huish Park.

A solitary goal, scored early in the second half, proved enough for the hosts to bank the points and send Daggers home empty-handed.

The Glovers came into the game having taken just three points from their last five league matches, which had yielded a grand total of just four goals.

Daggers, meanwhile, had taken seven points from their previous four league games and drawn with Tottenham U21s in the new National League Cup in midweek, with those fixtures producing a whopping 24 goals combined.

But Yeovil had won both meetings between the clubs in 2022-23, 1-0 at home and 2-0 at Victoria Road, so Daggers had something of a score to settle.

Romoney Crichlow was given his Daggers debut after signing on loan from Peterborough United, but the hosts had the first attempt at goal as Jordan Young cut in from the right and saw a low effort smothered by Elliot Justham after four minutes.

And captain Justham came to his side's rescue soon after when a teasing cross from Michael Smith, 36, on the right found the unmarked former West Ham United striker Frank Nouble, whose point-blank header was beaten away by the visiting keeper.

Justham made a routine save from Ciaran McGuckin's 18-yard effort after Crichlow had given the ball away with a sloppy pass, as Daggers took time to settle or enjoy any sustained possession.

The opening half-hour of play will certainly not live long in the memory of the travelling Daggers fans, with dangerous Dion Pereira seeing very little of the ball and when he did, his full-blooded shot hit a home defender on the edge of the box.

But the visitors ended the first half a bit better, with Oscar Rutherford and Pereira combining well on the right, and a foul on the latter by Brett McGavin gave Daggers a free-kick 35 yards out in stoppage time.

The move came to nothing, sadly, but they were improving signs, at least, to raise hopes for the second period.

And Daggers made a brighter start when the teams reappeared, with Josh Umerah denied by Ollie Wright at close range from Paul Kalambayi's nod-down, before an offside flag ruled the chance academic on 51 minutes.

It proved a false dawn, though, as James Plant sent in a fine cross from the left and McGuckin's downward header bounced inside the far post to open the scoring on 55 minutes.

The goalscorer got another sight of the target moments later after Nouble got past Frank Vincent and teed him up, but a scuffed shot was easily gathered by Justham.

And McGavin was not far away from 20 yards just past the hour, bending a shot just over, before a low effort from the same player was pushed away by Justham.

Christian N'Guessan replaced Vincent, before Ryan Hill and Rees were booked for fouls in quick succession, and Ben Strevens sent on Dylan Stephenson for Hessenthaler in his second change.

But Daggers struggled to change their fortunes, as Hill did well to reach a long ball from Kalambayi to win a corner, but then saw his set-piece headed comfortably clear by a green shirt.

And six minutes of additional time only prolonged the agony for the 114 travelling fans, who saw Pereira's late cross from the right cut out and then faced a long trip back to east London with few fond memories of the day.

Dagenham & Redbridge: Justham, Vincent (N'Guessan 61), Hessenthaler (Stephenson 78), Phipps, Pereira, Rees, Umerah, Hill, Crichlow, Rutherford, Kalambayi.

Unused subs: Woodhouse, Strizovic, Remy, Vigrass, Terry.

Attendance: 2998 (including 114 Daggers fans).