Substitute James Hanson rescued a late point for the Bantams to see Phil Parkinson's men earn a share of spoils on their return to league action following last Sunday's Capital One Cup Final.
Hanson tapped home from close range after fellow sub Nahki Wells had touched on Zavon Hines' low cross into the area four minutes before the end of normal time.
The striker's goal cancelled out Luke Howell's opener for Dagenham struck after 69 minutes when the midfielder drilled home from the edge of the area after Ben Strevens centre had been feed into his path.
Howell's opening strike for Dagenham came after the visiting forward Sam Williams had missed a penalty early after the restart following Kyel Reid's clip on Luke Wilkinson.
Despite Dagenham taking the lead and going close from the penalty spot beforehand, it was City who bossed the vast majority of the contest but had to play catch up after failing to find the vital first goal in the game.
FT: Bradford City 1 Dagenham & Redbridge 1
90+1min: Jones' late free-kick into the area is headed forward by Hanson but seemingly out of the reach of Wells over by far post. The Bermudian shows great tenacity to keep the ball in play, however, and fire back across goal but Ogogo is waiting to clear off his own line.
90min: There will be four minutes of time added on at the end of the match.
87min: SUB - Dagenham bring on Jake Reed for Elito.
86min: GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bradford City 1 Dagenham & Redbridge 1 - City have an equaliser through Hanson! Hines' low cross into the area is flicked on by Wells and Hanson is on hand to tap home from close range at the far post.
82min: SUB - Dagenham bring on Billy Bingham for Strevens. Dagenham are now just leaving Williams up front on his own.
81min: Connell fires wide from an angle while positioned around twelve yards from goal.
80min: Jones and Davies are inches away from connecting with a Hanson headed knock-down into the mix but the ball is just ahead of them and Lewington can gather.
78min: SUB - Alan Connell is brought on for Darby. With Connell just behind Wells and Hanson now, City are now lining up in a 3-4-1-2 formation.
74min: After seeing a cross blocked, Reid then cuts inside onto his weaker right shoot and drills a low shot from outside the area a couple of yards wide of Lewington's far post.
69min: GOAL - Bradford City 0 Dagenham & Redbridge 1 - The visitors stun Valley Parade by taking the lead with just over twenty minutes of normal time remaining. Ben Strevens' low cross into the area is flicked into the path of Howell, who drills a low effort from the edge of the area past McLaughlin's despairing dive and into the bottom corner.
67min: SUBS - The Bantams bring on James Hanson and Nahki Wells for Gray and Thompson respectively.
65min: Jones' teasing near post corner is somehow deflected up against Dagenham's crossbar before the visitors clear for another corner.
64min: A Jones cross following a short-worked corner falls into the path of McArdle, whose shot on the turn is deflected narrowly wide of the top corner of Lewington's goal-frame.
61min: Williams shows nice foot-work to turn away from McArdle before curling an effort from just inside the are merely inches wide of McLaughlin's far post.
60min: Lewington has to sprint out of his penalty area to head clear a forward pass aimed for Thompson. With the Dagenham 'keeper out of his goal, Zavon Hines tries to take advantage but the winger is wrestled off the ball by Abu Ogogo before Dagenham can eventually clear.
59min: After being teed up by Gray, Thompson drags a first-time shot from around the edge of the area comfortably wide of Dagenham's net.
57min: Following some good City pressure and clever hold-up play from Gray, the striker fires narrowly wide of Lewington's near post with a shot on the turn from around ten yards out.
53min: Nelson's far post header following Jones' free-kick from deep goes across Dagenham's six yard box, narrowly missing Andrew Davies and McArdle in the middle.
48min: MISSED!!!! Sam Williams steps up to take the penalty himself but his low effort goes wide of McLaughlin's right hand post!
48min: PENALTY TO DAGENHAM - The visitors are awarded a spot-kick when Reid is adjudged to have clipped Wilkinson from behind on the far end of City's penalty area.
46min: Dagenham restart the match.
HT: Bradford City 0 Dagenham & Redbridge 0
45+1min: Lewington has to race to the very edge of his own area to narrowly beat Thompson to an under-hit headed back-pass from Wilkinson.
45+1min: Thompson and Gray combine nicely on the edge of Dagenham's area but the latter is robbed of the ball by a well-timed intervention from Wilkinson as the City striker tries to turn into shooting space inside the penalty area.
45min: There will be one minute of time added on at the end of the first half.
38min: Jones fires a couple of yards wide of goal with a low effort from around 25 yards out.
35min: McArdle connects with Reid's near-post corner via a glancing header that goes across goal and out for a goal-kick over on the far side.
34min: City spring forward on the counter-attack when Gary Jones plays Thompson into space behind Dagenham's defences just outside the area. With Thompson having to slow down slightly to control the Jones' bouncing pass though, it gives Wilkinson the opportunity to get back and nip the ball off his toes.
34min: Nelson's flick forward from a free-kick from deep by McArdle finds Gray in a decent shooting position inside Dagenham's penalty area. As the striker goes to turn and fire for goal, however, Luke Wilkinson gets a vital block in.
19min: YELLOW CARD - Nathan Doyle is booked for a high challenge on Luke Howell as the City midfielder tried to beat his opponent to a bouncing ball.
13min: Garry Thompson is inches away from reaching a long throw-in by Stephen Darby before the bouncing ball is plucked out of the air by Lewington from nearly underneath his own crossbar.
12min: City's fans spontaneously rise as one for an impromptu version of 'Stand up if you love City'. With the Wembley flags flying proudly in the night's sky, it is a brilliant sight for anyone in the ground connected with the Bantams.
9min: Medy Elito forces a fine save out of Jon McLaughlin after the Dagenham winger had tricked his way past Nelson. Elito's drive from just inside the area is well-struck but McLaughlin gets a hand on the effort to push it against the top of his crossbar.
7min: Stretching to reach a ball over his shoulder following Michael Nelson's flick on from a Kyel Reid cross, Rory McArdle volleys narrowly over Chris Lewington's bar with a first-time effort from around ten yards out.
0min: The Bantams kick off the match. Having seemingly lost the pre-match toss, they will attack towards the Community Kop in the first half.
7:42pm: What a entrance for Phil Parkinson's Capital One Cup Finalists! With Dagenham & Redbridge graciously giving City a guard of honour as they enter the pitch, the Bantams are welcomed with a wall of noise from the home support and a sea of claret and amber flags in the crowd.