The opening exchanges were evenly matched, as the two unfamiliar sides contested fiercely. Dagenham showed no signs of fatigue from the journey and attacked well, but were met by stern defence from the home side. Tamworth then drew first blood, kicking over a penalty for a 3-0 lead. This was quickly cancelled out however by a Dagenham penalty kicked by Frankie Neale, as reward for the pressure exerted by the front-row at scrum time.

Dagenham continued to apply pressure at the scrum, earning a series of penalties. Eventually Josh Cook took the penalty quickly, finding centre Lewis Pruce who carried through two would-be tacklers to score. The try was converted by Neale for a 10-3 lead. After a sustained period of defence, player of the match Liam Power Junior made a great break and kicked over the last defender, only to be taken out off the ball. The penalty was given, allowing Neale to extend the lead to 13-3. The D’s continued to press, with Jermaine Darkwa coming very close to scoring a superb try but just being denied by the touchline.

Unfortunately a few minutes out from half-time, one of the Dagenham players was shown a yellow card for a high tackle, allowing Tamworth a period of play with a numerical advantage. Dagenham were up to the task however, with a few try-saving interventions from flankers Evan Westcott and Jordan Darkwa to preserve the half time lead.

Things started badly in the second half however, with another Dagenham player receiving a card for an infringement on the try line. Tamworth pressed their advantage and managed to score the try under the posts to reduce the arrears to 13-10. Dagenham needed to show composure to manage their numerical disadvantage, and showed both cool heads and ferocious defence over that period. Eventually they got their reward – a turnover from Lewis Pruce went through the hands, with Power providing the pass to Joe Daniels to race down the left touchline to score near the posts. Neale converted to extend the lead to 10 points. The final 20 minutes of the game were ferociously contested around the middle of the park, with some big hits made on both sides. Dagenham were doing well to manage the tempo of the game and control possession, but in the final few minutes Tamworth managed to turn the ball over and score wide on the touchline. The kicker was unable to convert, leaving the gap at 5 points with only a minute to play. Knowing that the victory was at hand, the Dagenham defence smothered Tamworth and managed to force the final error, confirming their 20-15 win and a place in the quarter finals.

Dagenham will now face Old Alleynians away on April 22nd, with the road to Twickenham one step closer.

There was also success this weekend for the Dagenham second team, who fought to a fantastic 54-12 victory over Runwell in the John Adler Cup.