Hendon 3
Dagenham & Redbridge 1
Hendon advanced to the semi-final of the Isthmian League Full Members Cup with a 3-1 victory over Dagenham and Redbridge at Claremont Road on Tuesday night.
A magnificent 84th minute goal, volleyed home by Nassem Bashir, eased Hendon's nerves after the Daggers had reduced the arrears with just over 10 minutes left.
The opening 14 minutes were almost devoid of goalmouth action -- Gary McCann had to come smartly off his line to stop a 10th minute Dagenham raid -- as the two teams felt each other out like heavyweight boxers.
Then in the 15th minute Hendon took the lead. Micky Banton passed the ball to Naseem Bashir midway inside the Dagenham half. Bashir immediately lobbed the ball forward for Banton, beating the visitors' offside trap, to run onto and slide the ball into the net.
The onside decision was a desperately close thing, but Banton didn't stop.
McCann then made a couple of smart saves to deny Dagenham a rapid response, while Paul Gothard was forced into comfortable saves from a couple of accurate long-range Hendon efforts.
Bashir almost scored from an acute angle after 51 minutes, nipping in to help on a Lynch cross which the Dagenham defence felt was harmless. His shot missed the near post by less than a foot.
In the 67th minute, Hendon extended their lead in controversial circumstances.
Banton, exhibiting typical perseverance, chased a through-ball, got there just as keeper Gothard did and the two tangled. The ball broke free, but Banton was much the quicker to recover and he walked the ball into the empty net.
Dagenham redoubled their efforts to get back into the game and they succeeded after 79 minutes when Danny Shipp scored with a powerful header following a pinpoint cross.
Dagenham then missed a great chance to equalise in the 82nd minute, but Paul Cobb shot wide from close range. It was to prove a costly miss.
Hendon have made something of a habit of scoring great goals in this season's Full Members Cup, and they conjured up the goal of the game in the 84th minute.
A fine diagonal ball found the ever-dangerous Lynch in space down the right wing. Lynch jinked one way, then the other, before crossing to the back post where Banton rose and headed back across the goal, right into the path of Bashir, whose 12-yard volley flew into the top corner.
A very satisfied manager Frank Murphy said: "I'm always pleased to win a cup-tie like this and reach a semi-final. We did well tonight."
Dagenham boss Ted Hardy said: "We missed our chances tonight and we can't blame anybody but ourselves for that. The first goal may have been offside, but I couldn't see from where I was and a mistake gave them their second goal."
Hendon will discover their semi-final opponents next week.
HENDON: McCann, A. Kelly, Clarke, P. Kelly, Warmington, Bateman, Bashir, Hyatt, Banton (Brady, 87), Howard, Lynch (Maran, 87). Unused sub: Heard.
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