Thurrock 1, Braintree Town 2
BRAINTREE eased themselves level on points with third-placed Bath City following Tuesday evening’s hard-fought victory over fellow play-off hopefuls Thurrock at Ship Lane.
Iron had to weather a difficult first 45 minutes during which time the home side were on top before taking the game to Thurrock after the break.
Despite chasing the game before half time, it was Braintree who took a 27th minute lead. A break on the left saw a neat interchange between Robbie Martin and Matt Game to open up the home defence.
The ball was then lofted into the home six yard box and saw Sean Marks rise to challenge Thurrock keeper Joe Woolley. Sean got more on to the ball than the keeper and, despite a late follow-up from Jacob Mingle, the ball trickled over the goal line to give Braintree the lead.
But Thurrock responded positively and were level three minutes later. A break on the left saw a cross driven in to the waiting Paul Olima who steered his header past Craig Holloway into the far right corner. Iron weathered the pressure and looked brighter after the break.
Their winner came on 65 minutes from a well worked corner. Martin drilled the ball in from the left to the edge of the box to Brad Quinton, whose half volley was steered past Woolley from close range.
New returned former Iron Bertie Brayley came on for George Purcell with 15 minutes remaining, Iron continued to push forward in search of a third and limited the home side to long distance efforts that rarely troubled Holloway.