Dan Holman opened the scoring early on to shock the ‘Shots,
running on to a loose ball which bobbled just behind the back line in the third
minute. Holman made the most of a mix up in defence which allowed the vacant
ball, keeping his cool to carefully poke past Morris with his right to give the
Iron the perfect start.
Looking to respond early, Brett Williams created a great
chance for the visitors, breaking down the left hand side and standing the ball
up in the box for Craig Stanley. The lofty defender got himself into a good
position in the box without pressure from any of the Iron defenders, but failed
to make the chance count producing more of a defensive header to give the Iron
a let off.
James Mulley came within a whisper of doubling the advantage
when Chez Isaac switched the ball from the inside right to Mulley cutting in on
the left flank. The perfectly weighted pass was taken in Mulley’s stride, whose
next touch was a shot at goal which bobbled just wide of the right post. Holman
was next to find himself with an opening, being played in from the right by
Sean Marks. Holman twisted and turned inside the penalty area after receiving
with his back at goal, eventually firing wide ten minutes from the end of the
first half.
Neither team could further the scoring before half time,
both having chances but largely cancelling one another out in the first 45
minutes.
Adam Mekki found the book for the book for the visitors when
he brought down James Mulley who was carrying the ball across the visitor’s box
looking for an opening to score. Dan Sparkes lined up with Holman for the shot,
but it was Sparkes who struck from just outside the box with his left. Sparkes
had beat the wall and the goalkeeper, but could not beat the woodwork, rattling
the bar with the rebound cleared away by the ‘Shots defence.
Following a double substitution for the visitors, Josh Scott created havoc in the box for Braintree, spinning to search for a teammate or opening. However, Dean Wells was there to clear for the Iron to the frustration of the travelling fans who was urging their team to strike. Scott and Molesey played the ball around again deep into the Iron left hand side, eventually crossing to Brett Williams who unmarked in the area failed to punish.
The visitors piled on more
pressure from a corner, with Tonkin coming across to provide the delivery from
the right. Bradley Bubb’s driven shot was cleared off of the line by the Iron,
and a loose ball trickled out to fellow sub Mark Molesey. Molesey fired hard
from outside the box, but was charged down by Den Wells who blocked to relieve
the danger.
Braintree had the ball in the back
of the net again with 20minutes to play, when he followed onto a through ball
played to Sean Marks in an offside position. Marks left the ball, but Holman
who was onside continued his run and rolled the ball into the net with the
opposition stationary. The referee blew for offside and awarded Holman a
booking for his troubles, although the offside Marks had not interfered with
play.
Ten minutes from time, Braldey
Bubb came close to an equaliser with an acrobatic effort from ten yards out.
Bubb connected with the delivery l in perfectly to land an overhead kick, which
Hamann caught with confidence to retain the home lead.
Brett Williams’s shot was
deflected out for a corner, which kept the pressure on the Iron, but the
clearance from the corner allowed Holman to break down the left hand side.
Holman picked the ball up just inside the Aldershot half, and took it past the
first defender into free space. Mulley was breaking his neck to get into the
area, but Holman favoured a shot of his own. Looking for a curling effort into
the far top corner, Holman fired high and wide off of target.
Four minutes of added time was not
enough for the visitors to equalise, and whistle was blown for full time with
just the one goal.
After the game Alan Devonshire
reflected on the win which stopped the rot that Lincoln City had begun. “Theres
not many times when we’ve gone on a run of a few defeats, so to get back to
winning ways is great. To get a clean sheet as well, I think he had one shot to
save Nick, and that was the overhead kick. Credit to them, we’ve had a bit of a
patched up side as well. I’m delighted for them. They’ve dug in well again and
got a good result for us.”
Alan bluntly refused to see a
chance of obtaining the final playoff spot once again, despite the Iron sitting
just five points adrift, highlighting the run in of games that Braintree have
been handed. Devonshire suggested that the way that these fixtures had been
organised by the league has left them with an unfair mountain to climb.
“I look at the Grimsby Vs Dartford
game and that’s been pushed back until the 10th April because the
two clubs agreed. Halifax didn’t agree to do the same with us because they
didn’t have a game. We’ve got 55 points now, we’re safe and we can go and enjoy
the rest of the season, but I think if you were in my position you would think
exactly the same.”
Braintree Town: Hamann, Peters, Sparkes, Wells, Paine,
Isaac, Davis, Daley (Laurent), Mulley, Marks, Holman (Jakubiak)
Unused Subs: McDonald, Maybanks, Holdsworth
Aldershot Town: Morris, Oastler, Tonkin, Stanley, Mekki (Molesey), Rowlands, Williams, Barker, Scott, Gibbs, Butler (Bubb)
Unused Subs: Taiwo, Webster, Martin
Referee: Justin Amey
Assistants: Joshua Smith and Tim Donellan
Fourth Official: Robin Cox
Attendance: 1090
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