Dagenham secured their first away victory in Regional 2 Anglia with a hotly-contested 27-17 win at Thurrock.

Despite being the first official meeting between the teams, there was plenty of familiarity between many players which added another layer of competition to the game.

Tees struck first after a couple of errors in Dagenham’s defence allowed their winger in to score, but Will Knowlden reclaimed possession with an excellent aerial take from the restart and, a few phases later, Tommy Cameron slotted a penalty to make it 7-3.

The hosts saw a penalty of their own come back off a post and were reduced to 14 men after a yellow card for a late tackle on Cameron.

And Dagenham took advantage as Nat Farrell kicked ahead for Liam Power Jr to chase and apply pressure which led to a penalty on the Thurrock line. A strong scrum then set the platform and, after a few close carries, quick hands from forwards Jason Taylor, Mitch Sinfield and O’Toole gave captain Farrell the chance to score in the corner.

Physical defence from Thurrock in midfield applied pressure and led to a number of penalties, before a lineout catch and drive move made it 12-8.

A high tackle on Farrell saw Tees reduced to 14 again, but Dagenham received a yellow card in similar circumstances and saw a home winger go over in the corner to make it 17-8 at half-time.

Good territorial kicking by Cook and Cameron kept Thurrock pinned in their own half after the restart and after being awarded a penalty, Dagenham elected for a scrum under the posts.

The visiting pack produced a powerful effort, enabling Brad Retigan to spring from the base and beat three tackles to score, with Cameron's conversion cutting the gap to two points.

Thurrock came back at Dagenham, but excellent defending kept them out, with Cook and Cameron again clearing the lines.

And the D’s worked their way downfield before a good probing grubber kick by Josh Groom turned the pressure onto Thurrock, with the chasing Gorman and Knowlden winning a turnover penalty on the home line.

Another strong scrum led to a try for Sinfield, putting D's three points up with 10 minutes left, and powerful carries from the likes of man-of-the-match Taylor, Sinfield and Ben Davis softened up the Thurrock defence enough for centre Lewis Pruce to swerve through a hole, beating several tacklers to score under the posts.

As well as putting the result beyond doubt, it also secured Dagenham a try bonus point in the table and denied Thurrock a losing point.

Dagenham moved up to fifth as a result of an excellent victory on the road, with the league now taking a break before table-topping Southend Saxons visit Central Park on Saturday week (October 14).