Post by dbbn on Mar 9, 2024 17:57:11 GMT
It was not a game for the purists today at the Rare Breed Meat Company Stadium and the Iron had to scrap hard for the point they finally earned against a physical, ugly Slough team. Angelo went with the same starting XI last Saturday at Welling with the addition of Crichlow back from his loan spell on the bench and Pavey recalled by Woking. The opening exchanges were played at a frenetic pace with very little controlled football with the ball rarely on the floor, resulting into a game of headers and volleys. An early chance with the Iron's first attack saw Shaq played in off the left flank and as the space in front of him opened up, he took a few strides forward and pulled the trigger from 25 yards, but he connected poorly and his shot is easily blocked and cleared. From a long punt from the Rebels keeper, the Iron are caught short, Tomkins misjudges it and Sims comes hurtling out to the edge of his box. also misjudging the bounce, but as the Slough forward goes to shoot, Tomkins recovers and denies him. Braintree are losing battles over the pitch and the ball is constantly lumped towards the Braintree goal, good Iron defending closes most avenues to goal and Lench hits one from outside the box, but it's comfortable for Sims. Iron's best chance of the half comes on 17 minutes, Altintop comes in off the right flank and with Slough defending just outside the box, Shaq points where he wants the ball and the captain plays it perfectly, but with the angle narrowing Shaq opts for power which almost knocks the keeper over, the ball comes back to Shaq and he lays it back into the path of Altintop on the edge of the area, but leaning back he hits it first time with his weaker left foot and it sails wide of the post. The game is being played mainly in the Braintree half as they fail to get the ball down and play, playing into the hands of their opponents. There's a scramble in the Iron penalty area with shots and blocks before the ball falls loose for Sims to pounce on. With 7 minutes of the half left, the deadlock is almost broken, Slough keep on pressing and finally deliver a quality cross which is met by Spasov who guides it towards the to[ corner of the net, but Sims is acrobatically across to tip it over the bar. The half ends goal less and the Iron have hardly been in the game.
There's a half time substitution for the home side with Davis replaced by Lambe. The sub gets on the ball and starts getting the team playing, he sends Blackwell away down the left, but the early cross is cleared. Braintree are now carrying more threat using the width, tactically Coulthirst is now playing as the centre forward with Blair on the right, and Lambe is using both wide men to good effect. Odusanya has an effort from 20 yards which goes narrowly over the bar. Blair then plays a dinked pass to Coulthirst to shott, but it gets blocked by his marker. Just short of the hour and the Iron get their noses in front. Coulthirst and Blackwell work a good one-two and Blackwell whips in a lowish cross which finds Blair, his first touch isn't good but he recovers enough to poke the ball goal wards, the keeper makes a hash of dealing with it and it dribbles towards the line where he just manages to scoop it away but Blair smashes the loose ball home. Ten minutes later and Blair is put in again on the angle on the right side of the area, he tries to find the opposite corner of the goal but it goes over. In a rare Slough foray, they level, good play down their right a low cross and an unmarked Cook-Appiah sweeps it home from close range. Braintree come forward again and Coulthirst holds it up and lays it off to Lambe on the edge of the area, but he fires over. A second sub sees Blair replaced by Wakefield and he has a golden chance to restore the lead within minutes of coming on. Blackwell on the left flank goes at his man on the by-line he gets lucky with the ricochet and goes past a second man, shoots across goal and the keeper parries it into the path of Wakefield who inexplicably found the side netting from 10 yards. Lambe again works another opening, putting Blackwell away again down the left he runs on with defenders backing off and shoots early left footed, but it takes a slight deflection and goes out for a corner.
It was a point hard earned and for most of the first half the lads weren't at the races, thankfully we won't have to play Slough again and can look to get back to winning ways on Tuesday evening with a home game against Dartford.
There's a half time substitution for the home side with Davis replaced by Lambe. The sub gets on the ball and starts getting the team playing, he sends Blackwell away down the left, but the early cross is cleared. Braintree are now carrying more threat using the width, tactically Coulthirst is now playing as the centre forward with Blair on the right, and Lambe is using both wide men to good effect. Odusanya has an effort from 20 yards which goes narrowly over the bar. Blair then plays a dinked pass to Coulthirst to shott, but it gets blocked by his marker. Just short of the hour and the Iron get their noses in front. Coulthirst and Blackwell work a good one-two and Blackwell whips in a lowish cross which finds Blair, his first touch isn't good but he recovers enough to poke the ball goal wards, the keeper makes a hash of dealing with it and it dribbles towards the line where he just manages to scoop it away but Blair smashes the loose ball home. Ten minutes later and Blair is put in again on the angle on the right side of the area, he tries to find the opposite corner of the goal but it goes over. In a rare Slough foray, they level, good play down their right a low cross and an unmarked Cook-Appiah sweeps it home from close range. Braintree come forward again and Coulthirst holds it up and lays it off to Lambe on the edge of the area, but he fires over. A second sub sees Blair replaced by Wakefield and he has a golden chance to restore the lead within minutes of coming on. Blackwell on the left flank goes at his man on the by-line he gets lucky with the ricochet and goes past a second man, shoots across goal and the keeper parries it into the path of Wakefield who inexplicably found the side netting from 10 yards. Lambe again works another opening, putting Blackwell away again down the left he runs on with defenders backing off and shoots early left footed, but it takes a slight deflection and goes out for a corner.
It was a point hard earned and for most of the first half the lads weren't at the races, thankfully we won't have to play Slough again and can look to get back to winning ways on Tuesday evening with a home game against Dartford.