This has certainly been a week to remember for three members of the Young family. Yet after Everton’s Ashley was cruelly denied the chance to face his son Tyler against Peterborough, Dagenham & Redbridge’s interim manager Lewis couldn’t quite conjure up an FA Cup shock as a bizarre improvised finish from Mihailo Ivanovic helped Millwall knock out the last non-league team still left standing in this year’s competition.

A tasty trip to face Leeds in the fourth round awaits for Alex Neil and his side as second-half goals from Casper De Norre and the substitute Ra’ess Bangura-Williams on his debut ensured the former Norwich and Sunderland manager picked up a first win since taking over from Neil Harris. But despite rarely laying a glove on their Championship opponents the night still belonged to Dagenham and their supporters, who almost outnumbered a disappointingly low turnout from the home fans and made their presence felt throughout.

“I’m a bit gutted because we didn’t show our true faces,” admitted Young, whose side managed only four shots. “Sometimes there’s a little bit of fear. But we’ll learn from it and hopefully the experience will stand us in good stead.”

Young – who was appointed in his temporary role after the sacking of Ben Strevens on Boxing Day – had to wait another five days for his taste of third-round action after his brother Ashley and nephew Tyler had been on opposite sides. But the visitors could take inspiration from seeing Tamworth, who are 16th in the National League, one place behind the Daggers – take Tottenham to extra time on Sunday. Dagenham came through trips to Wimbledon and Crewe in the previous rounds, although their last meeting with Millwall in 2012 had ended in a 5-0 thrashing that included two goals from a certain on-loan striker called Harry Kane.

The hosts had to make do without the talented teenager Romain Esse, with Neil confirming afterwards that he didn’t want to put the England Under-20 forward’s imminent move to Crystal Palace “at risk”. The Scot has inherited a squad short on confidence thanks to a run of only one win in their last 11 matches and that was evident as Millwall failed to create a real opening until the 21st minute when Jake Cooper, the captain, fired over from close range after a corner.

Dagenham’s preparation for this game included team bonding outings to the Crystal Maze Live Experience, Laser Quest and Topgolf. They were happy to sit deep and soak up pressure, but that tactic backfired when George Honeyman found space down the left and picked out Cooper, whose header was volleyed towards goal by Ivanovic despite him being pulled back by a Dagenham defender.

Elliot Justham, the Dagenham goalkeeper, did well to parry it but a brilliant piece of improvisation from the Serbia striker allowed him to head the ball over the line while still on the ground. “I just saw the ball staying there and was saying: ‘For this club, I would throw myself and shoot it with my head.’ I tried and succeeded,” he said. “A bit of ingenuity,” was Neil’s assessment.

Dagenham made it to the break without conceding again, even if they had barely threatened at the other end. After Cooper had missed the target with a flying header at the start of the second half, the former Arsenal academy player Josh Rees finally had the visitors’ first sight of goal. His shot was blocked for a corner, from which Jake Hessenthaler forced Lukas Jensen into action for the first time.

Dagenham’s hopes of causing an upset were ended when De Norre hammered home Joe Bryan’s teasing cross to the back post. Bangura-Williams – an academy product who signed a new long-term deal last week and is highly rated by the club – sealed Millwall’s progression to round four for the first time since 2020 with an excellent finish after a mazy dribble.