Brentwood showed, at times; why their play-off push faltered as their forwards miss-fired in front of goal and this showed in the very first minute when Lee Blackman found himself clear only to lose control of the ball as the Blues defence cleared easily.

It was a different story at the other end as Grays pushed forward when Danny Charge intercepted a pass to tap it to James Bunn, who hit a long low cross through the defence to find Joao Carlos, clear on the far post, to tap in off the post to give the home side the lead in the fourth minute.

Carlos was on his best as he tried to take the game to Brentwood and pulled the defence wide with Blackman close on his heels as he made the left flank his own but the Grays midfield could not keep control as the rest of the away side team harried the ball and made it difficult for the Blues to play fluent football.

Nathan Gordon was finding form as he battled forward and his sharp cross found Jake Hall clear but his shot was well blocked by Justham and the loose ball dropped to Kenny Beaney who fired woefully over. Grays were creating chances but could not find any one clear in the box until the half hour mark when Carlos weaved past two defenders to hit an accurate cross and Danny Charge rose high to head into the net to double the lead.

Within minutes both sides were reduced to ten men when an off-the-ball incident saw both Hall and Blewitt clash and receive red cards. Charge was immediately subbed for Danny Bunce to even the midfield but it was Brentwood who had the next chance when Stokes hit a long pass to find Coggin clear but his shot went over the bar.

Carlos was still finding space and another cross found Bunn in the middle but his header went just wide. Bunce hit a solid free-kick only to see Justham dive across his box to palm the ball out and clear. Gordon created the last chance of the half when he ran in from the right only to see his tight shot go into the side netting.

Grays went into the half knowing that they had done enough to deserve their lead and just had to keep it their heads to get the win.

Brentwood came out looking to get something from the game and from the off Cousins found himself clear from an Ailey cross and Junior had to quick to close down and clear the ball. Bunce ran at the defence only to hit over and Beaney shot off balance to see his shot also go the same way.

The game settled into a stroll for both sides as the tempo dropped but it was a five pass move that saw Bunce hit a rocket shot which Justham saved well. Grays were very patient in their build up but were unable to add to the score as they passed the ball around.

The away side battled to find a way through but Tony Tucker was on form when he dived to hold an Edgar shot and a dived low to stop Cousins from hitting the net. Beaney had the last chance of the match when he received the ball from Bunce but could only shoot over with only Justham to beat.

Grays now only need one win from the last two games to reach their play-off dreams and took a huge step in that direction with this game.

Grays Athletic: - Tony Tucker. Lee Flynn, Grant Cooper, Junior Baker, Craig Pope, Joao Carlos, Jake Hall, Kenny Beaney, Nathan Gordon, Danny Charge (Danny Bunce), James Bunn (Paul Olima)

Subs not used: - Jason Fontaine, Harry Agombar, Joe Sweeney.

Report by Steve Allen