Hadleigh boss Stuart Crawford said the secret to his side’s victory against Welwyn Garden City was remaining positive in extra-time.

The home side had been reduced to 10-men in the 85th minute when Neil Calver was sent off. And they had to play with a numerical disadvantage for much of that extra-time.

“We were far from fluid today,” Crawford said.

“We made hard work of it and Welwyn worked their socks off throughout.

“They had a strong tackling game plan and it almost worked for them.

“But when we went down to 10-men I was determined to still keep two up front and that is what got us through.

“If we had just sat back in extra-time, we would have been under the cosh throughout. But we weren’t.

“In the 90 minutes when we were 2-1 ahead, we needed a third goal and we missed our chances.

“But remember, some of my boys played 120 minutes on Wednesday night against Ipswich Wanderers and now they’ve played 120 minutes here today, so fair play to them.

“But we can look forward to the draw – a home one would be nice – it’s tough now though and we could do with not getting some of the strong north-east sides that are no doubt still in it.”

Crawford admitted it was a blow losing Tes Bramble so early in the second half.

“Tes has done great for us, but you must remember he hasn’t played for a while, he’s getting back into things and it was right for him to come off.”