The road to Wembley began for the Hawks on Saturday as they faced fellow-Step 4 side Brentwood Town in the Preliminary Round of the competition. The Hawks had come up against the Blues at the same stage in the 2019/20 season, with the game ending 1-1 at the Harlow Arena before Brentwood won 2-1 in a replay.

A penalty in the opening minutes had put the Hawks in a commanding position, as Narcis Filip netted his first Harlow goal after sending the keeper the wrong way, but despite having plenty of chances, they couldn't increase their lead. Instead, Brentwood Town found themselves level 10-minutes later. Andrew Freeman was the man who got the goal.

As the first half went on, the Hawks thought they could have nicked a goal, but the teams went into the break level before the second half became a quieter affair. The chances became few and far between, with neither side getting the decisive goal to seal their passage into the First Qualifying Round of the competition and meaning a replay would be required on Tuesday evening.

Harlow - Nwosu, Folkes, Eadie, Steele, Wallace, McIntosh, Filip (James 84), Gordon, Small, Attrill (Aliaj 62), Berchiche

Brentwood - Girling, Hogan (Gray 80), Siva (Reason 19), Humphrey, Leahy, Kendall, Dickinson, Richardson, Knight (Phillip 60), Freeman, Price

Match data

Goals: Harlow - Filip 3; Brentwood - Freeman 13

Yellow cards: Harlow - McIntosh 18, Eadie 76, Wallace 83, Steele 90; Brentwood - Price 67

Attendance: 273

Photo: Kelsi O'Connor (@kelsioconnor15)