HARWICH and Parkeston bowed out of the FA Vase after losing 7-6 on penalties to Rayleigh Town, writes COLIN ROGERS and TERRY FRANCIS.

The second qualifying round tie had finished 4-4, before going to penalties.

There was a whirlwind start to the match with Harwich having the ball in the net in the third minute when Danny Garrad headed in Luke Mayhew's cross only to see the assistant referee's flag raised.

Two minutes later, Rayleigh's dangerous striker Ishmeal Fiadzomor gave the visitors the lead with a neat side-footed finish at the near post.

Midway through the half, Shrimpers goalkeeper Brad Cook prevented what looked to be a certain goal when he saved with his feet and then at the other end Mayhew had a chance but blazed his shot over the crossbar.

Rayleigh came close again before half-time when Fiadzomor's shot went inches wide.

Ten minutes after the restart Harwich equalised when Mayhew weaved his way through to score a well-taken goal.

Harwich joy was short lived because within seconds with the Shrimpers defence all at sea, Cook came out for the ball to go over his head for Fiadzomor to inch in front of defender Will Crissel and head over the goal line.

On the hour Harwich made it 2-2 when a mix-up in the Rayleigh defence was pounced on by Mayhew for recent signing Louie Bloom to net his first Shrimpers' goal.

With the blustery wind and the ball bouncing awkwardly it was a day when both defences were prone to mistakes.

Mayhew was so quick to take advantage of panic within the Rayleigh defence and give Harwich the lead for the first time in the match.

It was his 50th goal for the club in his 90th appearance and took him into double figures for the season.

The Harwich defence were faring no better though and were all over the place when Pat Mills levelled the scores at 3-3 with another goal-line header.

There were 20 minutes remaining when Joe Knight restored Harwich lead with a cracking goal, rocketing an unstoppable shot into the net from 25 yards.

Crosses and corners were proving a nightmare for the Harwich defence to deal with but Cook did well to catch a dangerous high ball.

However with five minutes of normal time left he called for but failed to reach the ball and Rob Hodgson levelled for Rayleigh.

There was a lengthy period of added time during which Harwich pressed for a winner and Mayhew went close with a free-kick that goalkeeper Henry Noakes somehow managed to palm up for a defender to head off the line.

At the full-time whistle the match moved straight to a dramatic penalty shoot out.

Both goalkeepers pulled off one save in the initial five penalties but in the sudden death phase, Rayleigh edged through 7-6 to go into the hat for the draw for the next round of the competition.

Tomorrow (Saturday) Harwich's first team are without a game but their under-23 side entertain Hadleigh United under-23s at Gwinnell & Sons Royal Oak, kick-off 3pm.

Next Tuesday (October 1) the Shrimpers make the trip to London to meet Clapton Community in the Essex Senior Cup.