Aldershot Town manager Tommy Widdrington said he was proud of his players after they just missed out on a spot in the National League play-offs.

A dramatic 3-3 draw at the Chigwell Community Stadium against Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday meant the Shots finished a much-improved season in eighth position in the National League table.

Widdrington made two changes to the side which won in Gateshead on Wednesday, bringing Lorent Tolaj and Josh Stokes back into the side in place of Josh Barrett and James Daly. Olly Scott made the bench in place of Tommy Willard.

It was former Shot Inih Effiong who gave Dagenham & Redbridge the lead with just over half an hour gone in the game. Effiong did well to win the initial corner, and after a failed clearance Harvey Kedwell found Josh Hare, who had beaten the offside trap and pulled it back to Effiong, who showed good composure to go past Haji Mnoga before converting past a handful of Shots defenders on the line.

The Shots had more of the ball following the opener, but a flicked header by Tolaj which went wide was all they could create before the interval.

A dramatic start to the second half saw the Shots level almost immediately. Pressure came from the off, and after Kwame Thomas went down in the box the referee pointed to the spot to give Aldershot a way back into the game. Cian Harries stepped up and converted from the spot to level the scores again.

The Shots completed the turnaround in the 73rd minute thanks to Tolaj. Stokes did well to win a free kick near the corner flag, and Tyler Frost played the free kick short to Ryan Glover. Glover’s cross found Tolaj at the back post and he headed home to make it 2-1 to the Shots.

Dagenham found a way back into the game when Josh Rees ran through and laid the ball off to Ryan Hill, who converted past Jordi van Stappershoef from close range to level the game once again.

Dion Pereira came off the bench to score for Dagenham and give the Daggers the lead with just a few minutes of added time remaining.

The Shots levelled in the 97th minute. Theo Widdrington won a free kick right on the edge of the box, and Barrett put his free kick into the back of Elliot Justham's net.

Jack Barham got in behind moments later and fizzed a ball across goal. Van Stappershoef made some big saves at the other end to deny the Daggers, and the game ended 3-3.

“The last game of the season is really a biopic of our whole season,” said Widdrington. “There were periods of the game where I thought it didn’t look like we were on it. We were absolutely excellent for some periods, scored two really good goals, and then you think right see this game out but that’s not what we’ve done all season.

“I knew there were going to be bumps in the road between us going 2-1 up and the end of the game. We’ve taken a point from the game. We’ve had two trips in a week and taken four points, so had we done that all season we might not have been just short, but we are. I’m really proud of the group. I’m proud of the staff. The fans again wowed me. We’re playing away from home, the last game of the season with a possibility of success and getting into the play-offs, and they’ve come out again in their numbers and supported us. I honestly take my hat off to them and thank them on behalf of the players and the staff because we really appreciate their support.

“I said at half-time I thought we’d score goals because I felt we were a better team than them in general, and I thought we controlled long parts of the game. We just needed to polish up a little bit. Great play to get the penalty for the first, great effort from Lorent to score the second, and Josh Barrett has gone and done what we all know Josh Barrett can do – he’s got that in his locker.”