Dagenham and Redbridge competed well in their latest pre-season friendly against Premier League Birmingham City but were defeated by a late Marcus Bent strike at the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Stadium.

John Still decided to give Graeme Montgomery a go up front while Stuart Thurgood was given a run out in midfield. Montgomery almost made an immediate impact as he hit a well struck effort on ten minutes that Maik Taylor in the Birmingham goal did well to field.

Montgomery had an even better chance later in the opening period. He burst through the Blues defence to find himself one on one with Taylor, who made a very good block to deny the former Wealdstone man.

Montgomery's strike partner was Paul Benson who also had a snapshot from distance that never troubled the Birmingham goal.

The Daggers kept with their Premier League opponents in what was an even first half. Solid performances across the back four limited the visitors' opportunities typified by a very good block from Scott Doe that kept out a goal bound looking effort from Gary McSheffrey.

Stuart Parnaby was allowed to run from full-back and drove a low shot that beat Tony Roberts only to roll wide. Towards the interval Roger Johnson saw a header from a James McFadden corner sail over the crossbar.

The second half was by and large a quiet affair for large periods. Not long after the restart a Johnson header hit the back of Antwi, but in truth the goalkeepers had very little to do.

That threatened to change after the hour mark. Firstly McFadden linked with Keith Fahey for the latter to shoot weakly at Roberts.

The Daggers responded through an exciting run on the right flank from Danny Green. The midfielder struck a fine effort that saw the ball rocket narrowly over the bar.

Fahey had another chance to get on the score sheet for the Blues but once again Roberts was in the right spot to make the save.

However, Roberts couldn't do anything about Birmingham's winner. For once the Daggers defence were caught out with a long ball that hit McFadden right into Bent's path. The forward, who had only been on the pitch ten minutes, found the back of the net with a first time right footed shot.

The home side did have a great chance to equalise before the end. Super work from Green saw him get past Fahey and then find Josh Scott with a terrific cross. Scott's header however couldn't match the quality of the delivery as the ball sailed over.

Bent almost had a second as he latched onto a through ball from Lee Bowyer. Roberts however was quick enough of his line to prevent Bent from scoring.

Att: 1,022

Dag & Red: 1. Tony Roberts, 2. Scott Doe, 3. Scott Griffiths, 4. Mark Arber (Capt) (15. Abu Ogogo, 80 mins), 5. Will Antwi, 6. Stuart Thurgood, 7. Danny Green, 8. Solomon Taiwo (12. Jon Nurse, 72 mins), 9. Paul Benson, 10. Peter Gain, 11. Graeme Montgomery (14. Josh Scott, 54 mins). Subs: 16. Glenn Poole, 17. Billy Bingham, 18. Tommy Tejan-Sie, 19. Daniel Charge, 20. Alex Bentley, 21. Harlee Dean.

Birmingham: 1. Maik Taylor, 2. Stephen Carr (Capt), 7. Seb Larsson, 10. Cameron Jerome (23. Marcus Bent, 67 mins), 11. Gary McSheffrey (4. Lee Bowyer, 46 mins), 12. Barry Ferguson, 14. Roger Johnson, 15. Scott Dann (5. Martin Taylor, 46 mins), 16. James McFadden, 18. Keith Fahey, 21. Stuart Parnaby (3. Jared Wilson, 56 mins). Sub: 13. Colin Doyle.

Stats
Daggers-Birmingham
Corners 3-5
Offside 6-5
Fouls committed 8-8
Goal attempts 6-7
On target 3-4
Off target 3-3