A brace from Muhammadu Faal saw Enfield Town cause an FA Cup upset as the knocked Braintree Town out of the competition at the second qualifying round stage.

Braintree, in the National League last season but plying their trade in the National League South this campaign, were on a five-game unbeaten streak coming into the game but were brought to an abrupt halt by their Isthmian League Premier Division opponents.

Even before kick-off, Enfield were dealt a blow as striker Billy Bricknell picked up a calf injury during the warm-up, but unfazed by the setback, Enfield put in a solid defensive performance matched by some brilliant counter attacking.

Defender Ryan Blackman was called into action early on in the game, alert to Ade Cole’s dangerous cross that caused some panic in the Town penalty area.

After surviving the first 20 minutes against their higher-league opponents, Town’s confidence grew and they broke the deadlock on 26 minutes.

Blackman was allowed to advance around 30 yards through the heart of the Braintree defence, and he laid it on for Faal to provide a cool finish and slot the hosts in front.

Town kept up the pressure towards the end of the half and perhaps could have been frustrated that they were not further ahead. Ken Charles fired a shot just wide of the post and Joe Payne’s free-kick flashed past everyone at the face of goal.

Braintree came out with a renewed energy in the second half, and they were denied only by an excellent Sam Youngs clearance from Tom Richardson’s through ball and by Nathan McDonald’s point-blank save with his legs.

For all of the possession the visitors were having though, they were doing little with it as Marc Weatherstone and Jon Muleba at centre-back restricted them mostly to half-chances.

At the other end, Town had claims for a penalty waved away by the referee but it wasn’t long before it did not matter, as the hosts doubled their advantage.

A swift counter-attack resulted in Blackman once again playing through for Faal, and he drilled it past Michael Johnson to seal a marvellous upset for Enfield and send their National League South opponents crashing out.

Victory seals the side's passage into the third qualifying round, and they will now travel to either Hartley Wintney or Chichester City depending on the outcome of their replay tomorrow night.