Braintree 1 Gateshead 0

[dbbn]

Two changes from Tuesday with Isaac returning from suspension in place of Peters and Mensah starting ahead of Marks.  It was a bright afternoon; but the football on offer was anything but.  With no recognised target man, Iron's long ball tactics never looked like troubling Gateshead's back line. They were the better passing team but were unable to create any clear chances. The only moment of note in the first half was a bad tackle on Kenny by Patterson who lunged in over the top after losing possession to the Iron's skipper.  The referee didn't even deem it worthy to talk to the culprit; despite protestations from Iron players.
The second half saw Braintree enjoy more possession; but still little threat as chances were hard to come by. Mensah and Akinola did link up well with the latter shooting from 18 yards against the bar.  He later dragged a shot wide from just inside the box.
The only goal came after Mensah broke into the box to be tripped for a clear penalty.  Unlike Holman's poor effort last season, Kenny tucked it away with aplomb.
A valuable 3 points gained which was more important than the overall performance.

One tactical decision I didn't understand was why wasn't Clerima going up for corners and free kicks? Apart from the centre backs, Gateshead did lack height in the team and surely we should've exploited this more?

[ozbrit]

I was a little surprised to hear Mensah being used as our lone striker and target man. The fact the Gateshead attack were also restricted is more evidence of what a strong defence Devs has built. If only we had the freescoring ways of our first season up here! So it was no real surprise when I got up to see we'd scored via a penalty. We must have the best penalty to goal ratio in the league, they've won us a lot of points.

But hey-ho a win is a win is a win and that's good enough for me. Onwards to Tuesday's game and the free admission, lets hope Cressing Road is packed.

[admin]

The view from the Braintree & Witham Times:

Braintree end their four-game losing run with win against Gateshead

by Simon Spurgeon
Updated on 7:03pm Saturday 7th March 2015 in Sport


BRAINTREE TOWN 1 GATESHEAD 0

Vanarama Conference Premier

Braintree Town put an end to their four-game losing run with a single-goal victory against Gateshead.

The Iron had paid the price for not taking chances in front of goal against FC Halifax Town, Bristol Rovers, Grimsby Town and Macclesfield Town in their previous outings but a second-half penalty did the job for them on this occasion.

It was a frustrating first half that saw both defences on top, but after Simeon Akinola hit the crossbar after the break, they looked far livelier.


And after Bernard Mensah had been brought down in the penalty area in the 68th minute, Kenny Davis drilled the ball low into the goal for what proved to be the winner.

There were two changes for Braintree from the side that started the 1-0 defeat by Macclesfield on Tuesday, with Sean Marks and Ryan Peters both dropping to the bench.

Marks had suffered with illness in the latter part of the week and Peters was still struggling with a back problem, but Chez Isaac returned from a one-match suspension and Bernard Mensah was in after recovering from a knock he took to his ankle at Bristol Rovers.

It was a glorious spring afternoon for the game but it was a slow start as neither side really took a hold of it as both defences neutralised the opposing attacks.

Simeon Akinola and Mensah were trying their best to carve opportunities up front for the Iron, but any space was quickly closed down.

Gateshead were restricted to efforts from long distance and it took 32 minutes for the first shot on target to come with Alex Rodman bringing a simple save from Nick Hamann.

It meant it stayed goalless at half-time and it was a similarly quiet opening to the second 45 minutes as both attacks struggled to break down the defensive shields around the goals.

However, the first bit of decent play opened a chance for Braintree in the 59th minute when Sam Habergham played a neat ball in to Mensah, who laid it back to the onrushing Akinola.

His lovely curled shot was dipping with Gateshead keeper Adam Bartlett beaten but it just didn’t come down enough and it grazed the top of the crossbar.

It may have missed, but it galvanised the Iron into some much better action.

They suddenly looked more lively with balls being played into feet and into the channels rather than being swung in from deeper positions allowing the big Gateshead defenders to easily deal with.

And it was from a smart move that saw Akinola lay the ball in to Mensah that led to the opening goal.

As Mensah advanced, he was clipped by Matty Pattison and referee Daniel Cook pointed straight to the penalty spot, with Kenny Davis stepping forward to ram the ball into the net.

It was a deserved lead after the Iron had upped the pace, but Gateshead knew they needed three points to really stay in the promotion race and made a triple substitution.

Jon Shaw, Kevin Sainte-Luce and Adam Campbell are all attacking players and it was a signal of the visitors’ intent, however, Braintree stayed on the front foot.

They were unable to create too many more clear-cut chances and heading into the final minutes, Gateshead threw men forward to try to force an equaliser.

It led to a nervous final five minutes for the home fans among the crowd of 515 but Cook’s final whistle brought welcome relief as Braintree held on for the three points.

Braintree: Nick Hamann, Mitch Brundle, Sam Habergham, Remi Clerima, Alan Massey, Chez Isaac, Matt Paine, Kenny Davis, Dan Sparkes, Bernard Mensah Joe Maybanks 90), Simeon Akinola (Ryan Peters 89). Subs not used: George Pullen, Sean Marks, Carl Pentney. Referee: Daniel Cook.

[castIRONgooner]

As mentioned in the bwt Sean was suffering with flu so devs hand was forced but I thought the front 3 of sparkes akinola and mensah did well stretching there back line, only disappointment another shocking referring display from Mr Cook, I was right next to where Kenny nearly had his leg broken, if this was in the premier league Patterson would hopefully be getting punished by video evidence, late dangerous and well over the to of the ball!

[honestkev]

cIg, as a steward, you should be watching the crowd and not the match. LOL

[layon]

Good win against a good footballing team. Thought Mensah and Akinola did well together particularly in the second half.
One thing - IMO Mensah really needs to be told that he has got to put in a shift helping to defend from the front. At the end when we were under pressure in a very tight game he could have done a lot more closing down on the defenders coming forward out of the Gateshead defence and setting up attacks.
Otherwise a good performance and result