Daren Newman surveyed the wreckage of an FA Vase dream and said what 1,600 people were thinking.

Burgess Hill will never get a better chance to reach the semi-finals.

Hillians wasted a series of chances, hit the post twice and were sunk by the softest of goals in the second period of extra-time.

That after visiting goalkeeper Jason Haygreen had been spared a first-half red card for upending Phil Churchill.

Haygreen's offence led to the free-kick from which Churchill cancelled out Steve Parnell's 26th-minute penalty.

But he went on to make several crucial saves and see the uprights bail him out when Newman twice beat him with headers.

The Hillians defender admitted: "I think Tiptree rode their luck but they rode it well. Everybody here will be absolutely gutted, but we did not put away the chances we created.

"We probably played at 75 per cent of what we can do and in the end we would have settled for 1-1, but we won't get a better chance to go through than this."

Haygreen's lucky day continued when he was named man-of-the-mach. Well though he played, that looked a touch generous. In front of him, central defenders Ian Fish and, in particular, Wayne Houghton were magnificent.

They helped Tiptree weather an early storm, then saw the tide temporarily turn when Tim Brown clipped David Barefield just inside the box and Parnell rolled home the spot kick.

It was the pace of Churchill which helped drag Hillians level. He latched on to Richard Carter's 41st-minute through ball ahead of Haygreen and a defender and was sent flying by the keeper.

Referee Steve Habgood deemed yellow was sufficient punishment and any home complaints were silenced when Churchill reacted like lightning to head home after Paul Williams' fierce free-kick had been punched out by the keeper.

Hillians boss Gary Croydon was sporting in defeat but looked back on that incident as a turning point.

He said: "The keeper should have gone. At this level referees unfortunately have not got the strength, but I thought the keeper was the last person and I thought he should have gone.

"That's cup football. I'm not taking anything away from Tiptree but anyone who was here will have seen we created enough to find ourselves in the semi-finals of the Vase.

"I feel really bad for my players because it's them that hurt most. It just wasn't our day, the ball would not go in.

"I've no moans except you curse your luck a little bit."

That luck was certainly out when Newman hit the woodwork for the second time in the match two minutes into the second half, with Ashley Carr inches away from converting the rebound.

Carr had an effort blocked in the six-yard box, Churchill saw the ball nicked off his toe by Haygreen right on the line and the keeper produced a superb tip-over from a header by the otherwise subdued Steve Harper.

As extra-time kicked-off, Hillians knew they were Sussex's last survivors in the competition. They sent on Gary Callingham and Lee Isaac to try and provide the breakthrough but neither were able to find the target.

Isaac was guilty of two glaring misses, the second of which came seconds before Tiptree grabbed their 107th minute winner. Another substitute, left back Alex Snow, launched a 50-yard free-kick deep into the Hillians penalty box.

Pat Gannon called clearly enough but failed to gather the ball and Andy Brady forced his side into a lead which survived fierce Hillians pressure in the closing stages.

Visiting boss Neil Fairlie revealed Brady's lack of aerial prowess was a standing joke at the club.

He said: "We call him Toblerone or 50p-Head because he can't head a ball straight.

"It's unbelievable. The spirit of the side is amazing. We showed it at Taunton and we did it again."

That win at holders Taunton in the previous round was another of the smash-and-grab variety.

Talk around Leylands Park on Saturday was that the Essex club's name could now be on the trophy. More likely it will all catch up with them in the two-legged semi.

Back in Sussex, no one is going to catch up with Burgess Hill in the County League this season, though a fourth title in six years will not totally ease Saturday's disappointment.

Off the pitch it was another big success as Hillians smashed the attendance record set against Porthleven in the previous round.

Many fans had taken their places 45 minutes before kick-off, including youngsters equipped with shirts, balloons and even wigs in bright Burgess Hill yellow. Later comers were ferried from their cars by an efficient park-and-ride system set up for the game.

Both against Porthleven and on Saturday, Burgess Hill have proved they can handle the big non-league occasion.

But they should have had a semi-final on their hands.