OA’s started the more brightly of the two sides, gaining early field position through the playmaking of their influential out-half. The pressure eventually lead to a penalty in front of the post, which they duly converted. Despite some staunch defending, Alleynian’s managed to find the gaps and soon scored near the posts to extend their lead to 10-0. In a double-blow, Dagenham also lost the influential Frankie Neale to injury during this period.

As shown throughout the season though, Dagenham responded to the adversity and soon applied some pressure of their own. After a number of phases, slick hands provided the space for Joe Daniels to touch down in the left corner for 5 points. Unfortunately the reprieve didn’t last long, a counter-attack from OA’s ended with a mismatch for their winger, who went close to scoring in the corner, only to be denied by a last-ditch effort from Jordan Darkwa. The referee team however deemed that he had infringed in the attempt, so awarded an penalty try to OA’s and a yellow card to Dagenham. To further add to Dagenham’s woes, they soon lost centre Jermaine Darkwa to injury shortly after. This Dagenham side wouldn’t be put down easily however, and soon had their next score – Earl Gorman picking an excellent line and going through untouched for the try under the posts. Dagenham started to dictate the phases, but an unfortunate loose ball bounced kindly for an OA’s player to scoop up and run another try in unopposed, leaving the score at 24-12 at half-time.

Dagenham started the second half much more brightly, knowing that the next score could be pivotal in determining the outcome of the match. They were soon able to get the sought-after score after an excellent bit of interplay between Tommy Cameron and Lewis Pruce to set Nat Farrell free down the wing. He was hauled down by the final defender, but managed to get the offload away to the supporting Joe Daniels to score his second of the match. Dagenham continued to apply pressure, with a smart kicking game keeping OA’s pinned in their half. Eventually they were awarded the penalty which Cameron slotted, to reduce the arrears to just 4 points at 24-20. It looked like Dagenham would now push on, with OA’s starting to make enforced errors, but they were unable to capitalize on a period of possession. Eventually Alleynian’s managed to rally once more and, with the cumulative fatigue from last weeks game starting to show on the Dagenham side, managed to find a hole in the defence to burst through and score. They soon followed up with another try in the corner, despite a heroic defensive effort from Liam Power Junior. The game certainly wasn’t over however, and Dagenham managed to claw back another try through Lewis Pruce, bouncing through a couple of defenders to score and reduce the gap to just 9 points with a few minutes remaining.

With only a minute or two remaining and still needing two scores, Dagenham knew they would need to take some risks to have any chance of winning. Unfortunately the rub of the green just wasn’t with Dagenham on this day. A cut-out pass, which could have set Farrell away free on the wing, was instead intercepted by an OA’s player to run in another try under the posts to add some gloss to the scoreline at the final whistle. Despite a frustrating end, this Dagenham side will look back on the cup campaign and season overall as a success with the focus now turning to next season’s campaign in Regional 2 Anglia.