An ecstatic Ben Strevens was brimming with pride after Dagenham & Redbridge edged a famous 1-0 FA Cup win over Crewe Alexandra on Saturday to progress to the second round of English football’s most famous knockout competition.
Dion Pereira's second-half penalty was enough to secure victory at Gresty Road, before Daggers were handed a trip to another League Two side in AFC Wimbledon in Monday's draw.
And Strevens could hardly contain his excitement after the success.
“I’m really delighted. I’m so happy for all the boys and the squad, and everyone at the club,” he said.
“It was a really tough game, on paper, coming here. First half, I thought was really even. I think we did some really good things. I have to say, at the start of the second half, they (Crewe) came out all guns blazing, and we really had to defend as a unit.
"We probably scored when they were on top of us, and the latter part of the game was just an FA Cup game where they’ve got their centre-half up front.
“I have to say it, I think it’s a class football club. The analysis we did going into this game was that they win their game in hand, and they go second in League Two. They’ve got some brilliant, young players, and the mark of the football club means their manager has just come in and given us a crate of beers to celebrate.
"We’re really respectful towards them and how people conduct themselves when they win or lose just shows how classy they are, and I really appreciate what their manager has done.
“It’s a massive and amazing day for the football club.”
On what can come from the win, Strevens backed his squad to use the momentum as a springboard for a successful National League campaign.
“I just think it’s trying to give them belief. I keep saying it to them - I think they’re capable of doing anything they want to do,” he added.
“We’ve had some moments this year with things like injuries and stuff like that, which has killed us, but we’ve also lost games where we felt we should've done better.
“Today, I have to be honest, if we'd won or lost that game in the end, I would've said that they couldn’t have done any more. Their effort with and without the ball, I wanted them to enjoy it. We had some great defensive moments and attacking moments as well.
“I’m really pleased for the whole squad. Some people stepped in who haven't been playing as much as well, so it’s a real squad effort."
The 313 travelling Daggers fans were jubilant at full-time having seen their team progress and Strevens thanked them for their support after the long trip to Cheshire.
“That’s what you do it for. You want those moments to give back to the fans and see how happy they were," he said.
“When you have a good day as a club, it’s for everyone. It’s for the people behind the scenes that do so much work, and then it’s ultimately for the people who you run over to at the end."
Daggers return to their league campaign at Boston United this weekend as they bid to recover some patchy early-season form in the competition.
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