The Hawks got off to the worst possible start when captain Oliver Gnandi was penalised for a handball on the goal-line in just the 5th minute of the game, and he was shown a straight red card for preventing a certain goal.

Jason Williams converted the resulting spot-kick, leaving Harlow facing an uphill battle from remaining 85 minutes of the tie.

The hosts made the most of the man advantage and doubled the lead on 18 minutes through Jacob Wiggins.

There was some respite for the Hawks when a floodlight failure caused a delay to the game, but there was a collective sigh from the travelling fans when power was restored and the game resumed 15 minutes later.

Harlow Town had their own shout for a penalty after the ball struck a Brentwood player’s hand inside the goal area, but the referee waved away the protests.

Despite their numbers disadvantage, Harlow Town’s spirited performance saw several chances created, but without being able to find the goal, the visitors were running out of time.

There was a glimmer of hope in the dying stages when Christian Adu Gyamfi scored his third goal of the campaign.

It was too little, too late, as Brentwood saw out the remainder of the game to progress to the First Round Qualifying at the expense of the Hawks.

FULL-TIME: Brentwood Town 2-1 Harlow Town