HARTLEY Wintney made their exit from the FA Trophy following a defeat at Priory Lane to Conference South side Eastbourne Borough.

Inside the first two minutes the Row went behind. A long pass down the right found the pacey Greg Luer who delivered a cross in front of the goal. Nick Wheeler took a touch at the far post before firing past Luke Williams in the Hartley goal.

With a wind advantage the Row responded well and pulled level on six minutes. A Ty Smith corner saw the Borough defence unable to clear and the ball fell to Shane Hollamby who shot home from 10 yards.

A minute later the Row had a chance to go in front when Adam Cornell found Mickel Platt who shot just over the bar.

On nine minutes Josh Webb had space to try a shot which was saved by Tom Hadler in the Borough goal.

The Borough had a chance on 14 minutes as play went from end to end when Kristian Campbell burst down the left and his parting shot went just over.

Two minutes later, the Row had a chance from a Josh Webb free kick which was blocked the ball broke to Platt who shot over.

On 22 minutes the Borough came close to regaining the lead when Luer broke down the right and his cross found Charlie Walker who was denied by good blocking from the Row defence.

Borough then had a good spell and on 28 minutes a corner on the left by Dean Cox found the head of Manny Adebowale whose effort went narrowly wide.

Hartley came into the game towards the interval and were unlucky not to take the lead on 39 minutes. Louie Paget found a pass to Josh Webb who shot from 25-yards and the effort hit the top of the crossbar. Four minutes later Sal Abubakar made good progress down the right before setting up Nathan Smart who shot over.

Eastbourne came out for the second half looking more purposeful and almost regained the lead on 49 minutes. A cross from Wheeler found Luer and his shot brought out a good save from Williams who also saved a follow up shot.

The hosts gained an edge with the advantage of the wind but it was the Row who almost took the lead on 62 minutes. A good build up saw Smart feed Adam Cornell who saw his fierce shot from a tight angle bring out a good save from Hadler in the Borough goal.

From the resulting Hartley corner Eastbourne broke quickly and regained the lead. Wheeler found space on the left and his cross found Dean Cox who finished well from 15 yards.

Hartley responded well and Adam Cornell broke through the middle and put the ball into the net. However an offside flag cut short any celebrations.

The Borough made the game safe on 66 minutes with a third goal. Luke Williams under pressure could not get distance on a clearance. The ball was fed through to Charlie Walker who shot home from the edge of the box.

The Row struggled to get back into the game but on 79 minutes Abubakar and Webb combined well and the latter saw his shot deflected just wide.

In the closing stages Ben Overton showed good skill to weave through the Row defence but shot wide with only Williams to beat.

Hartley were good in parts especially in the first half. However over the 90 minutes the Borough had slightly more quality in possession and deserved to progress to the first round proper.

Next for the Row is a Tuesday night Aldershot Senior Cup clash at Ashford Town.