Dagenham lost their final league game 29-20 at home to Brentwood to finish ninth in the Regional Two Anglia table.

Playing into a gusting wind in the first half, it was always going to be a challenge gaining territory.

They were the first to strike however, with full-back Jordan Calverley touching down in the corner following some excellent handling.

Brentwood managed to take the lead with a converted try soon after, finding a gap in the defence to score from close range.

It wasn’t long before Dagenham struck back, though, through Nat Farrell, who beat several defenders to score out wide.

This was followed by a long period of defence, as Brentwood used the wind to their advantage to pin Dagenham back.

After a few infringements, the D’s were shown a yellow card, and that provided the opportunity for Brentwood to score before half time for a 12-10 lead.

The second half started with both teams battling for an advantage.

Unfortunately for Dagenham, just as they were back to a full compliment of players, another yellow card was issued.

They managed to defend this period well and were next to score with Calverley kicking an impressive 50-metre penalty to nudge them 13-12 ahead.

The lead wasn’t to last, with Brentwood redoubling their efforts and managing to crash over again from short range for a try.

Shortly after, an awkward bounce saw the ball evade the backfield cover and land fortuitously for a Brentwood player to score under the posts.

Facing a 26-13 deficit, Dagenham were under pressure to claw the game back and managed to do so with a few minutes left, Jordan Darkwa scoring out wide and Calverley converting.

Unfortunately they conceded a penalty after the restart and Brentwood opted to kick for the posts to complete the scoring.

Dagenham will be disappointed to have narrowly lost another winnable game and attention now turns to the Papa Johns Cup, with a trip to Gravesend on Saturday.