Anyone with a knowledge of Charlton's FA Cup history or a memory stretching back far enough may have had visions of the knockout blow so nearly delivered by Conference club Dagenham.

Alan Curbishley was just four minutes from having his chin cracked for the first time in his career, a humiliation that two of Athletic's players suffered quite literally the last time a non-League team visited The Valley in the competition.

That match with then Southern League Maidstone 22 years ago produced the same scoreline but it was not the battling qualities of the visitors, reproduced by Garry Hill's Daggers, that were remembered.

Rather the fighting between Charlton's two strikers Mike Flanagan and Derek Hales, which saw the pair sent off in humiliation and facing disciplinary action, with the latter actually sacked before his later reinstatement.

Curbishley's sense of embarrassment is on quite a different level - a couple of his close friends are sponsors of the fledgling Daggers and his house is close to the club's Victoria Road ground.

The Charlton boss, a West Ham fan as a boy, endured a miserable Christmas with the ribbing delivered by his Hammers-supporting family and friends after the 5-0 Boxing Day bashing at Upton Park.

Imagine the stick he will be taking until the replay a week on Wednesday, after a mob containing a meat market porter, a gardener and a customs officer held the Premiership's seventh-placed team on their own patch.

''Two east London clubs have caused us all sorts of problems over the last couple of weeks,'' reflected Forest Gate-born Curbishley.

''It was an absolute pasting at West Ham and we responded. We nearly came unstuck here today and the players have to respond again - and if we respond by getting something at Southampton next Saturday I will be delighted.''

Things took a down-turn for Athletic even before the tie when 13-goal leading scorer Jonatan Johansson suffered a freak training ground injury, kicking the ground in taking a shot at goal and jarring his knee in the process.

Without the talismanic Finn, Charlton failed to muster much of note in the first period at The Valley and Junior McDougald's diving header provided a surprise yet deserved half-time lead for the minnows.

The extra endeavour displayed in the second also failed to bring an equaliser, although Martin Pringle did nod against a post shortly after the resumption and Radostin Kishishev brought a smart save out of Daggers goalkeeper Tony Roberts - until the cruel deflection four minutes from time prevented an historical first.

No Premiership club has ever been ousted by non-Leaguers and it took a re-routing of substitute John Salako's volley to wrong-foot former Welsh international Roberts and keep that record intact.

The heavy pitch had taken its toll on the part-timers and lead appeared to have been added to their legs during six minutes of injury-time, having hussled and harried their more illustrious opponents throughout.

A replay was just reward and Dagenham are keen to play the game at their own home, despite suggestions that West Ham's Upton Park could stage it.

Curbishley, who claimed Hill's side played as well as any of the 11 Premiership teams that have been to The Valley this season, was pleased to have avoided further casualties with a growing injury list causing concern.

''The cup comes along and because it's played on a Saturday, it gives you a week to prepare for your next Premiership game,'' said Curbishley.

''The pleasing thing for us is that we play West Ham the next Monday rather than Saturday so we will have four or five days' rest after the replay to recover, which will be a benefit.

''The replay will be a tough game. It will be a lively old encounter.

''It's easy to say that Premiership sides should beat non-League teams but that's not the case."