McIlroy was left bemoaning the fact that once again individual errors had cost his side points as shock early pacesetters Dagenham moved to the top of the League 2 table with their third win from four games.

McIlroy said: "We looked fine in the first half and played some good stuff but then to concede two sloppy goals was a killer.

"It's happening every week and I'm sick of saying it and I've got a lot of thinking to do over the weekend.

"I thought we were excellent in the first half without converting the chances we had and I told the lads at half-time that this was a game that was there for the taking.

"But then we gave away two shocking goals as we made wrong decisions in vital areas once again.

"To come away from the game with nothing was entirely our own fault and as the manager I have to take full responsibility as I set the team up and send them out to play.

"But we are making far too many mistakes and I have to go away and think about what I will do next."

There was little to worry about after a first half which saw Morecambe have the better of the possession.

Rene Howe and Matty Blinkhorn linked well up front and although Dagenham looked sharp on the break, they created little.

Their best moment came from a Sam Saunders break down the right that gave Ben Strevens a chance which he wasted with a volley that failed to hit the target from 10 yards out.

Morecambe had chances themselves with Jim Bentley heading an early Neil Wainwright corner wide and Howe flashing a long range shot wide of the left-hand post.

But after the break, it all went wrong as the Daggers scored two in three sloppy minutes.

Four minutes after the break, Henry McStay gave away a needless free-kick on the edge of the box and Saunders curled an effort past Barry Roche low to his right.

Three minutes later, Dagenham made the most of another Morecambe error. Michael Carr gave the ball away cheaply in midfield and the visitors took full advantage.

Scott Griffiths raced to the edge of the area and found Paul Benson and although his effort was blocked, Soloman Taiwo reacted sharply to fire the loose ball into the roof of the net.

Heads dropped and the crowd, a disappointingly low 1,517, began to look restless.

The introduction of Stewart Drummond and Garry Hunter into the midfield certainly raised the tempo as Morecambe took the game to Dagenham.

Blinkhorn wasted a glorious chance when he volleyed over from close range after good work from Wainwright before substitute Diarmuid O'Carroll gave the Shrimps fans a glimmer of hope with his first goal for the club on 77 minutes.

The former Celtic man had only been on the field for a few minutes when he headed home Wayne Curtis's flick from a Hunter corner and there was a new sense of hope.

O'Carroll then could have earned himself early hero status when presented with another chance by Howe but unfortunately he sliced an effort wide of the target and the Shrimps were once again left thinking how they let more points slip.

Morecambe: Roche 6, McStay 6 (O'Carroll 77), Bentley 6, Artell 6, Adams 6; Wainwright 7, Curtis 6, Carr 6 (Hunter 62), McCann 6 (Drummond 62), Howe 7, Blinkhorn 6. Subs not used: Davies, McLachlan.

Dagenham: Roberts, Okuonghae, Uddin, Arber, Griffiths; Saunders, Taiwo, Gain, Nurse; Benson (Nwokeji 89), Strevens. Subs not used: Thompson, Boardman, Southam, Graham.

Ref: S Mathieson 6 - a decent display. Nice to see no bookings.

Att: 1,571.