Ian Culverhouse was left purring by arguably the best half of football during his two spells as King’s Lynn Town manager.

The Linnets stretched morning leaders Dagenham & Redbridge every which way in a 45-minute spell in which they mesmerised at times - but somehow ended up on the wrong end of a 2-1 scoreline.

Linnets v Dagenham match report

Successive promotions which took Lynn into the National League a year or so ago were frequently marked with top-drawer performances. But the way Lynn swaggered around the park met with the Culverhouse seal of approval as up there with the best.

“I think so,” he said. “Some of our patterns and the detail in out work was real high quality so I am really proud with the way they played. It is just that end product and that is the hardest part in football, just getting that end product.

“But we are not too far away.”

It took Dagenham less than two minutes of the second half to go ahead, through Josh Walker, with Myles Weston making it 2-0 in the 88th minute, before Junior Morias got a deserved consolation for Lynn in time added on.

Eastern Daily Press: Josh Walker scores Dagenham's first goal early in the second halfJosh Walker scores Dagenham's first goal early in the second half (Image: Ian Burt Photography)

“I am gutted for them, I really am because some of the football we played first half was exceptional, and to go toe to toe with the side that are top of the league at the moment and just be that short is gutting for the players.

“We switched off on a throw which is annoying. Whereas first half we were playing one- and two-touch and it was quick and it was dynamic, second half it was a little bit slower, and we didn’t react quickly enough on the initial first pass.

“But we are a young group and we are learning and we will grow and grow and we will give teams a hell of a game here.”