DANNY Cowley heaped praise on his Concord Rangers side as they beat Dagenham & Redbridge on penalties to progress to the semi-finals of the Essex Senior Cup.

The Beach Boys triumphed 4-2 on spot kicks against the League Two side, after the game ended 2-2, to book their place in the last four of the competition.

Goals from Joe Gardner and Tony Stokes, either side of an Abu Ogogo volley, had given the visitors a half-time lead but a superb individual goal from Jodi Jones equalised again early in the second half.

And it was goalkeeper Josh Vickers who saved the day when it came to the shoot-out, saving consecutive kicks to see the defending champions through.

And manager Cowley said he was pleased his side got the reward their play deserved.

“We deserved this win,” said the Beach Boys manager. “We looked in control from the early stages and I know the boys were disappointed at half-time, even though we were in front. Dagenham had eight first-team players on the pitch but I thought we looked in charge for the large majority of the game.

“It took two very good goals to break us down and, even though it came to penalties, I felt confident that Josh would be the difference.”

And that proved to be the case, with the on-loan Arsenal goalkeeper saving from Joe Widdowson and Ogogo.

It was the Beach Boys’ third penalty shoot-out win in this year’s competition, having beaten League One outfit Colchester United and Ryman Premier side Grays Athletic.

Cowley said one of the most pleasing aspects about the result was the performance, after one of their most disappointing displays of the season against St Albans City last Saturday.

“It was pleasing to bounce back from such a disappointing performance at the weekend. We let ourselves down that day and we were all hurting afterwards. But this was a real team effort from the boys.

“I thought Joe Gardner and Tony Stokes were superb. Joe has been out for a while but he really battled for every ball and deserved his goal. They both ran themselves into the ground.”

Concord are now the highest ranked side left in the tournament, with Ryman One North side Aveley the only other team safely into the last four.

But Cowley has shrugged off the favourites tag.

Billericay Town and AFC Hornchurch are bigger clubs than us in terms of infrastructure so there is a way to go yet. But this is a competition that is very important for us and we very much want to retain it.”