Words John Edwards | Pictures Jonathan Moore

Dagenham & Redbridge 6 Altrincham 1

The dream of a place in the Vanarama National League play-offs came to an ignominious end on a day Altrincham will want to forget after they slumped to their heaviest of the Phil Parkinson era at Victoria Road this afternoon.

It's the hope that kills you, as the saying goes, and the Robins arrived in East London with play-off aspirations alive and well after an emphatic 3-0 win at FC Halifax Town five days earlier.

By the final whistle, they were in tatters after just about anything that could go wrong did, including a bizarre own goal by Charlie Olson, whose attempted back pass from way out near the touchline sailed over the head of substitute keeper Harvey Randle late in the second half.

By then, the damage had been done, chiefly by a hat-trick from home captain Josh Rees as the Daggers cruised into a 4-0 lead by half-time and were six clear before another Alty substitute, Joe Nuttall, found the back of the net in added time.

The Daggers were just as desperate for points as Alty, and they drew first blood with a goal in only the sixth minute.

A half-clearance landed at the feet of skipper Rees, and his shot from around 25 yards was too good for Caleb Ansen as it beat the keeper's dive and went in off the left post.

Ansen might have done better, particularly after looking so assured in recent weeks, but Alty could ill-afford to let heads drop in a game so crucial for their hopes of reaching the play-offs for a second successive time to survive into the final round of fixtures.

They looked determined to make amends as they mounted a spell of pressure immediately after the goal that ended with a shot on the turn from Jake Bickerstaff that was comfortably saved.

Matters could have gone from bad to worse in the 16th minute when Jake Hessenthaler fired in a shot that deflected off Olson and hit the outside of the right post, with Ansen beaten.

Alty so nearly made the most of that reprieve in the 20th minute when Isaac Marriott won possession in typically tigerish style and set up George Wilson for a low cross that was met first time in the middle by Olson.

The Alty centre-back's connection could not have been cleaner, but Jake Turner denied him with an exceptional reflex save, palming it behind for a corner at full stretch.

What happened after that was a nightmare no-one of an Altrincham persuasion could possibly have foreseen, as Dagenham & Redbridge made it 3-0 with two goals in the space of three minutes.

Both stemmed from a worrying inability to deal with high balls played into the heart of the Alty area.

Just such an aerial route undid the Robins in the 22nd minute as a cross into a congested box fell obligingly for Rees to drive home his second goal of the game from 10 yards.

Alty almost conceded in the 24th minute when an angled effort from Josh Umerah was turned round the post by Ansen's outstretched left boot, but any sense of relief was shortlived.

From the resulting 25th-minute corner, Harry Phipps rose higher than anyone to win the aerial duel and plant a header past Ansen.

Alty were left wondering what had hit them, and worse almost followed in the 29th minute when Dion Pereira curled a left-foot shot beyond the reach of Ansen, only for it to bounce back into play off the far post.

Alty would have known they were up against a side fighting for their lives and fired up in their quest for survival points, but they simply could not live with the intensity of the home team's attacking forays.

The Robins had their moments, not least when a Wilson drive was blocked in the 36th minute and a double save by Turner thwarted Regan Linney and then Bickerstaff soon after.

The Daggers keeper made a hash of dealing with Linney's drive from outside the area, spilling the ball needlessly, but he reacted brilliantly to block the close-range follow-up from Bickerstaff.

Just as Alty were threatening to get their hands on a much-needed lifeline, they were left reeling from a fourth Dagenham goal on the stroke of half-time.

Ansen got a hand to a shot from the right, but Lewis Banks was deemed to have impeded Pereira's attempt to latch on to the rebound, and the referee pointed to the spot.

The penalty by Pereira was accurate and well struck, but Ansen was unfortunate not to keep it out as the ball brushed his fingertips on its way into the bottom right corner of the Alty net.

No-one other than those within the four walls of the away dressing room could be sure of the exact contents of Phil Parkinson's half-time team talk, but the sight of four Alty substitutes waiting to come on at the start of the second half was something of an indicator.

Nuttall, James Jones, Matt Penney and even keeper Randle were introduced in an attempt to instigate the unlikeliest of comebacks.

There was little sign of it materialising. Indeed, Alty could have found themselves 5-0 down in the 67th minute when an inswinging corner from the right by Pereira sailed over everyone and hit the far upright before being scrambled clear.

In the 73rd minute, they were in the barely-believable predicament of being 5-0 down when a sublime back heel by Umerah teed up Rees for a hat-trick goal, as the midfielder slotted past Randle from close range.

Just when it surely couldn't get any worse, it did.

Under pressure from a chasing Dagenham player as he pursued a ball towards his own goal on the Alty left flank, Olson applied too much purchase on an attempted back pass and saw it fly over a retreating Randle, beyond the reach of the substitute keeper, and into the net.

Alty at least registered on the scoresheet - Nuttall bundling the ball over the line after Turner did astonishingly well to claw a Linney effort away from the top corner of his net - but it was scant consolation for the most chastening of afternoons for everyone connected with the Robins.

Dagenham Turner; Francis, Hessenthaler, Pereira (N'Guessan, 71'), Phipps, Rees (c) (Khaleel, 86'), Umerah (Wyllie, 76'), Loupalo-Bi (Lawless, 86'), Remy (Mahorn, 61'), Rutherford, Kalambayi. Subs not used: N'Guessan, Harvey, Mahorn, Harrack.

Altrincham Ansen (Randle, 46'); Banks, Baines (c) (Reddin, 61'), Osborne, Marriott (Penney, 46'), Linney, Newby, Wilson, Golden (J.Jones, 46'), Bickerstaff (Nuttall, 46'), Olson. Subs not used: Crankshaw, Dolan.

HT 4-0

Goals Rees 6', 22', 73', Phipps 25', Pereira 45'+2, Olson (OG) 84' | Nuttall 90'+2

Yellows Francis 79' | Baines 41', Banks 45'+1, Wilson 65'

Reds None | None

Referee Richard Eley

Assistants Stuart Kane & Richard Carter

Fourth official Will Briers

Attendance 2,002 (126 away)

Next Up

It's Tamworth at The J.Davidson Stadium on Bank Holiday Monday, May 5th (3pm) - the final game of the Vanarama National League season.

Get your general admission tickets right here. If you're after hospitality in The John King Lounge it's once again sold out.