Sarll, who was joined in the dugout by Lennie Lawrence after the break, sent on Gary Madine to partner Mani Dieseruvwe for the first time since his arrival. Adam Smith produced a brilliant stop to keep his side from going two down three minutes into the second half.

The hosts tried for an equalizer, but David Ferguson was sent off late on, his fourth red card in ten games, as Dagenham won for the third time in a row.

Pools entered the game still looking for their first home win in the new season.

While Sarll’s team had been rock solid at the back and possessed the National League’s second-stingiest defense, Pools had struggled to score in three of their first four games at the Prestige Group Stadium.

Dagenham, meanwhile, matched the home side’s tally of seven goals in their first nine games in a single day last week, smashing Gateshead 7-1 and sending shockwaves across the league.

The outcome was all the more stunning given that Gateshead had gone undefeated in their first seven games and were leading the league previous to their disastrous trip to the capital.

Indeed, following a string of mid-table results, Dagenham set their sights on the top of the table this season after being acquired by American consortium Club Underdog.

The Daggers become the sixth club in the owners’ portfolio, and the firm already has experience propelling clubs up the footballing pyramid, having overseen repeated promotions with Italian side Campobasso.

The two teams couldn’t have had more opposite weeks leading up to kick-off in the North East, with Dagenham winning their past two games by an aggregate score of 10-1, while Pools were still suffering from a very disappointing defeat to bottom club Ebbsfleet.

Darren Sarll made four changes in an attempt to inspire a turnaround in his team’s dismal home record.

New signing. Nathan Assimwe, who joined on loan from League One club Charlton earlier this week, began out wide.

The versatile teenager, who has already made 26 appearances for the Addicks and is well-liked in South East London, was brought in to shore up Sarll’s options out wide and at full-back after Louis Stephenson was allowed to leave on loan, and Kieron Freeman’s short-term contract expired the day after he suffered an injury at Ebbsfleet.

Dan Dodds made his first start since the season opener, Nicky Featherstone returned to the starting lineup after excelling on the bench in previous weeks, and Luke Charman took over for Roshaun Mathurin.

It was Featherstone’s 424th appearance for Pools, moving him past of Ray Thompson as the club’s fourth-highest appearance maker of all time, ahead of his 36th birthday on Sunday.

Gary Madine and Greg Sloggett, who both missed last week’s lengthy trip to Kent, were declared fit for the bench, while Adam Campbell, who has been dealing with an Achilles injury, and Jack Hunter were ruled out.

Dagenham manager Ben Stevens made two changes to the squad that defeated Gateshead last week, bringing in two of the National League’s most in-form players.

Dion Pereira, an Antiguan international, came into the game after two straight braces, while Josh Rees had six goals in his first nine games of the season.

Former Pools forward Josh Umerah, who had scored two goals in his previous three outings, returns to familiar ground to face his former club barely six months after being released.

Dagenham’s Dion Pereria looked dangerous in the early going, but the return of Dan Dodds, as well as a more forward-thinking formation that saw Joe Grey start behind Mani Dieseruvwe, gave Pools more attacking momentum, and Luke Charman had the first chance of the afternoon, blasting over from the edge of the box.

Charman and Dodds, in particular, were providing Pools with some much-needed width, and Charman’s tempting cross flew over Elliot Justham’s goal as the hosts tried to open the scoring.

While Pools pushed forward, the home side’s full-backs were exposed, and Dagenham took the lead after seven minutes when Sam Ling marauded forward undetected and crossed to Josh Umerah, who fired the visitors ahead against his former side; it seemed almost inevitable that the frontman would return to haunt the club where he had spent the previous two seasons.

That goal appeared to unsettle Pools, and Dagenham almost added a second five minutes later when Junior Morias shot over following a deep cross from metronomic midfielder Harry Phipps.

Dan Dodds was doing his best to get something going for Pools when an appeal for a penalty was turned down midway through the first half after a determined run into the box; the home crowd certainly thought their side had a strong case, but the players’ protests were, perhaps tellingly, less vocal.

Pools were clawing their way back into the game and could have equalized in the 27th minute when Mani Dieseruvwe pulled his shot wide from inside the box after bringing Joe Grey’s long cross down on his chest.

The home team was completing the first half brightly, and practically everything was going via the brilliant Dan Dodds, who almost found Luke Charman with a dangerous cross after fine hold-up play from Mani Dieseruvwe.

Before the interval, both teams traded blows, with the crafty Dion Pereira forcing a stop from Adam Smith at his near post, and Mani Dieseruvwe latching onto a long ball and stinging Dagenham skipper Elliot Justham’s hands with a half-volley from distance.

Referee Stuart Morland booked a disgruntled Darren Sarll not long before blowing for half time; Pools must have been upset with the goal they surrendered, but had got into the game and were a touch unlucky to be down at the break

Dagenham, who made a change at half-time, got off to a rapid start, with Harry Phipps forcing a brilliant save from Adam Smith, who had to alter his balance before getting a firm hand to the midfielder’s goalbound shot three minutes later.

Josh Rees almost added to his six goals this season seconds later, but leaning back, blasted his attempt past Smith’s bar as Pools battled to get back on track after the break.

Harry Phipps, who made many threatening runs from midfield, headed over from close range as Dagenham pressed for a second. Sarll, who had been joined in the dugout by Lennie Lawrence for the second half, made two substitutions, bringing on Roshaun Mathurin and Gary Madine.

Nathan Sheron had two attempts saved by Tom Eastman as Pools put two up front, with Madine partnering Dieseruvwe for the first time since his arrival last month.

The alterations were taking effect, and Dieseruvwe appeared to be on his way to tying things up until he slipped just as he was ready to squeeze the trigger from close range as Pools began to turn the screw.

Dion Pereira had a fantastic chance to put the visitors out of reach as time ran out, hitting wide of Smith’s near post after Dagenham replacement Ryan Hill’s quick thinking appeared to break down the Pools defence as Dodds tired.

Mancini found himself in a promising position late on but fluffed his lines, while David Ferguson was sent off in the 89th minute for a second yellow card; the left-back, who became the fourth Pools player to be sent off in ten games, was a little unfortunate because he did appear to make a genuine attempt to win the ball.

Dagenham survived a late goalmouth scramble but held on to inflict further agony on Pools, who have only scored once at home in more than seven hours of football and face play-off contenders Rochdale on Tuesday.

Pools: Smith; Dodds, Sass-Davies (sub, Robinson, 86); Parkes (c), Ferguson; Asiimwe (sub, Mathurin, 60), Featherstone, Sheron (sub, Sloggett, 75), Charman (sub, Madine, 60); Grey (sub, Mancini, 67); Dieseruvwe.

Dagenham: Justham (captain); Woodhouse (sub, Rutherford, 77), Eastman, Kalambayi, Ling; Vincent (sub, Grego-Cox, 45), Phipps; Pereira, Rees, Morias (sub, Hill, 75); Umerah.

Att: 3,507 (37 km).

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