Dover's second-half fightback fell short as they were deservedly beaten by play-off rivals Dagenham & Redbridge at Crabble on Saturday afternoon.

Two sloppy goals gave the impressive visitors a well-deserved two-goal lead at the break with Dover looking a shadow of the side who beat Sutton 6-0 on Tuesday night.

However despite missing a penalty, Ricky Miller made amends with his 26th goal of the season to give the hosts hope, while the visitors missed a glut of chances to put the game to bed, leading to a nervy finale.

It was sixth-placed Daggers complete the double over Chris Kinnear's men and leapfrog their hosts who began the day in fifth.

Dover were forced into a change as Sammy Moore missed out through injury with Chris Kinnear Jr called into the starting XI.

After just five minutes Tyrone Sterling was caught out as he tried to shepherd the ball of of play, coughing up possession to Corey Whitely who drove inside before flashing a shot across Steve Arnold's goal.

The visitors looked dangerous from set-pieces but the opening goal owed little to quality and more to luck. On-loan Jordan Maguire-Drew swung in a deep free-kick from fully 40 yards but Arnold appeared to misjudge the flight and then stumble on his line as the ball looped into the net.

The visitors had lost their previous two while Dover came-in on the back of four straight wins, the last of them 6-0 at Sutton on Tuesday, however you could not tell.

Daggers oozed class on the break and played some intricate football with Sam Magri needing to make a perfect last-ditch tackle to deny Chris Assombalonga in full-flight in the box.

Dover's first attempt of note was a 25 yard strike past the angle of post and bar from defender Jamie Grimes after he strode forward from the back.

Arnold partially redeemed himself just before the half-hour with a stunning point-blank save after livewire Whitely crossed from the right for a diving Assombalonga whose firm header was stopped on the line by Arnold's foot.

The subdued Ricky Miller blazed over the bar, and out of the ground, on the stretch after an Arnold punt caused havoc in the otherwise stoic Daggers defence.

He tried another off-balance effort from 25-yard which flew wide before Arnold made another sharp save on 41 minutes to deny Whitely who gave Richard Orlu a torrid afternoon.

However from the resultant corner Dover's defence went to sleep and veteran Paul Benson propelled his 37-year-old frame highest to head home from six yards.

Moses Emmanuel might have had an instant reply after a Ross Lafayette flick but got the ball stuck under his feet before dragging wide and he volleyed wide from an Aswad Thomas cross as Dover finished the half on top.

Goalmouth action was at a premium after the break and Dover's frustration grew as Kinnear Jr and Miller were both booked for dissent while Miller did flash a low cross across the face of goal.

At the other end Assombalonga played Benson clean through but Arnold stayed up well to deny his fierce shot from 10 yards.

Whitely saw a fizzing cross punched off the line by the Dover keeper while another fluid run was ended crudely by Jim Stevenson, though the ball broke to Maguire-Drew whose lofted effort was well held by Arnold.

Miller has the chance to pull one back from the spot in the 69th minute after going down under pressure from Joe Widdowson on the edge of the box, but the league's top-scorer saw his effort down the middle blocked by the legs of Elliot Justham and his instinctive follow-up volley was wide.

Miller glanced a header wide from a deep free-kick soon after and Emmanuel saw a low drive blocked before Miller was played-in by Pinnock but could only shoot at Justham - their first shot on target from open play.

Benson headed over when unmarked at the other end as the visitors sought to kill the game off and should have had his second on 80 minutes when he latched onto Grimes' weak back header, only for Arnold's big right foot to come to the rescue again.

Dover gained a lifeline with eight minutes remaining as a long-throw from sub Mitch Pinnock was flicked on by Grimes for Miller to hook a powerful volley past Justham from close range to continue their run of scoring in very home game this season.

Maguire-Drew found the side-netting from an angle as Daggers threatened a third while Miller's cross-shot rolled agonisingly between Emmanuel and the far post with three minutes left.

Despite four minutes of stoppage-time the visitors professionally ran down the clock to claim a deserved win which should really have been more convincing.

Dover: Arnold, Magri, Thomas (Pinnock 75mins), Orlu, Stevenson, Miller, Grimes, Sterling, Emmanuel, Lafayette, Kinnear Jr (Parkinson 76mins). Subs not used: Walker, Modeste, Marsh, Parkinson.

Justham, Widdowson, Doe, Assombalonga (Hyde 90mins), Guttridge, Benson, Maguire-Drew, Bouchard, Whitely, Staunton, Okuonaghae. Subs not used: Cousins, Heard, Mitchell, Barnwell.

Attendance: 1,234