Braintree Town manager Alan Devonshire was left wondering how his players who had performed so well in their previous outing could go so flat when losing 3-0 to Macclesfield Town.

The Iron were unable to build on their excellent display at Tamworth on Saturday as they went down to a third defeat in their last four Blue Square Bet Premier games.

And the decline in performance from one game to the next left their boss scratching his head in bemusement.

Braintree made a bright start, but were unable to capitalise on the chances they created and once Amari Morgan-Smith had put the visitors ahead from a quick break on 32 minutes, there was only going to be one winner.

The Silkmen were by far the more polished side after the break and Waide Fairhurst added two goals to record a comfortable victory.

Devonshire said: “It seems as if the first goal is always vital.

“We had chances early on, but they scored against the run of play and in the second half we just weren’t good enough.

“It’s just a bit soul destroying after the way we won on Saturday, but I’d be a magician if I knew what was going on with something like that.

“Our two forwards caused them problems in the first half, but we went flat in the second.

“We didn’t pass it and it was just a bad performance.

“I’m left scratching my head a bit at the moment.”