Darragh McAnthony had a Wembley trip on his pre-season wish-list and as the chairman prides himself on getting what he wants, the disappointment at a first hurdle failure will be as immense in Marbella today as it was at London Road last night.

Posh were just a centre-back away from fielding the side that had beaten Leeds three days earlier, but they were a million miles away from a similar performance.

Dagenham & Redbridge, a much better side than the one beaten twice by Posh last season, defended superbly and pinched victory with a header by midget striker Mark Nwokeji which looped over the head of a six foot five inch goalkeeper midway through the second half.

As the visitors had attacked with the menace of mice until that point even the 147 travelling fans were shocked to see the ball cross the line, but manager John Still, one of the good guys in professional football, was not that surprised at the outcome.

Still, a former Posh manager, said: "We always have good young players and the biggest problem we have is that Posh keep buying them!

"But seriously we have been playing pretty well and considering Posh were at full strength and in great form it was a fantastic win."

Still left out a couple of first-choice players, but his side were organised and determined. Posh suffered from an acute lack of the latter quality.

Posh passed the ball about neatly in a dominant first-half performance, but failed to test chubby goalkeeper Tony Roberts at all.

George Boyd spoilt one trademark dribble with an inaccurate shot and a deft chip just before the interval grazed the crossbar.

Former Dagenham star Dominic Green side-footed his best opportunity straight at Roberts, while many other attacks floundered when Craig Mackail-Smith triggered an offside flag or when crosses were totally misdirected.

Posh fielded Charlie Lee at centre-half alongside Craig Morgan and he did well enough to secure his place for the trip to Walsall on Saturday, but the good news stopped there.

Posh became worse as the match wore on and even the sensational news of Micah Hyde's first goal for the club was instantly wiped out by an alert assistant referee. Hyde had slid in at the far post after Green had drilled a shot across goal six minutes after the re-start.

The Dagenham goal did wake Posh up a bit, but several changes of personnel and formation had no effect on the pattern of play.

The visitors defended deeper and deeper, but were prised open just once in open play when substitute Scott Rendell's precise pass was ruined by a wild shot by Mackail-Smith. Mackail-Smith is the club's top scorer and yet strangely his finishing is not the strongest part of his game.

Morgan did miss a free header from a set-piece and Lee wasn't far off target from a corner, but not until Boyd let fly from 25 yards in the final minute did Roberts have to make a diving save.

By then Dagenham had almost added breakaway goals through Shane Huke and Ben Strevens, but one proved enough to send Still's men through.

For Posh one route to Wembley remains open. Hopefully this result will ensure they re-double their efforts on the League One front – the chairman for one will expect it.

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