And the match certainly proved to be a good advert for the Conference with chances falling to both sides throughout the encounter.
Stevenage started the better of the two sides with Dino Maamria seeing a shot deflected just wide on ten minutes as Boyd dominated through the midfield for the home side.
Dagenham & Redbridge did come close when Lee Goodwin turned the ball onto the top of the bar, but it was Stevenage who struck first when a Dannie Bulman corner was turned in to his own net by defender Ashley Vickers.
The goal increased the Stevenage appetite for a vital second and they came close to netting again as chances fell to Jon Nurse, Anthony Elding and Bulman.
Stevenage failed to take advantage of their dominance and it was the Daggers who forced their way back into the contest in the second half with Paul Benson forcing a dramatic save from home keeper Alan Julian, while Chris Moore was only denied by a stunning close-range block from the Stevenage number one.
Dagenham finally got the deserved equaliser on 72 minutes and it came after Stevenage had an Elding goal disallowed. Dagenham moved the ball swiftly up the other end and Benson crossed in from the left for Craig Mackail-Smith to tap home.
At this point the game could have gone either way and it appeared to be heading for a draw, before the inspirational Boyd latched on to a pass from Nurse and fired a deflected effort under the body of keeper Tony Roberts to clinch the win.