Dagenham & Redbridge boss Daryl McMahon felt his side were fully deserving of their FA Cup win at Maidenhead United.
Josh Walker’s 79th-minute goal proved the difference between the National League rivals at York Road, after the hosts had been reduced to 10 men midway through the second half.
Will De Havilland was sent off for two bookable offences and McMahon was delighted to see Daggers make their extra man count.
“I thought it made it tougher because they went even deeper and it was hard to break them down but I thought we stayed really, really patient, which was good from us, I thought,” he told the club website.
“We didn’t get panicky and smash the ball forward. We didn’t take too many touches, which can happen sometimes, we still kept the ball moving fast, we still tried to play through them.
“I thought we were brilliant from start to finish. I thought we deserved to go through.
“I thought we totally controlled the game, in terms of controlling the ball. I thought we played out from the back really well.”
Injury-hit Daggers included George Saunders among their substitutes, following his recovery from a broken leg, but McMahon stuck with his starting line-up.
He added: “We had George [Saunders] and Elliott Johnson on the bench but we couldn’t use them. They were just there.
“They’ve trained the last two or three days so we couldn’t use them. We put them on the bench so they could warm up and be around it and be back involved and get them back into it.
“And the rest of the bench is youngsters really and ‘Zoums’.
“It’s a really depleted group at the minute, it’s disappointing that we couldn’t have Smarty and Ty Johnson available, their parent club wouldn’t allow them to play, so we were down to the bare bones.
“But I thought the XI we had on the pitch from start to finish was terrific and I have to say they’ve trained so well this week and that was the icing on the cake.”
Walker netted his sixth goal of the season to earn Daggers a spot in the second round, just moments after letting a good chance go begging.
And he earned praise from McMahon, along with Mo Sagaf and Omar Mussa.
“The chance Josh had before, when he gets through one-v-one, you’re just waiting for the net to bulge,” he said.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him not score a one-v-one when he goes through. He’s outstanding in those situations.
“But I think he showed his composure and belief and why he is such a good goalscorer. He never loses faith in himself, he’s in there again to score a goal with a terific finish.
“Mo was unbelievable. He never makes a mistake, he never moans, he works as hard as anyone I’ve ever managed before.
“He’s a terrific player and he’s having a really good spell at the moment. He’s worth his weight in gold, that’s what gets you a clean sheet, gets you into the next round, that determination.
“I thought that ran through the whole team. Everybody worked really hard today, deservedly got the clean sheet and we got through to the next round.
“In the first half, we’ve seen that little bit again where he [Mussa] was good, then he was losing it in areas where you don’t want him to lose it.
“Then he showed real maturity in the second half, he stepped up and believed in himself.
“We love him, he’s got so much talent, it’s ridiculous, and we want him now to really kick on and show everyone how good he is and improve and I’m sure he will.
“He’s got a long way to go, but he’s got all the potential to be a very good player indeed.”
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