Braintree Town chairman Lee Harding was philosophical about how his team fared on the final day of the 2013/14 season.

The Iron knew they had to beat Grimsby Town in their last match to stand any chance of finishing in the Skrill Premier’s top five as well as hoping Gateshead lost to Cambridge and there was a three-goal swing in their favour in terms of goal difference.

In the end none of those things happened as Braintree failed to break down the Mariners’ defence in a 0-0 stalemate but still ended up sixth in the table – a highest-ever position for the club.

Harding said: “It wasn’t just about the last day, it was about results over the course of the season.

“You get yourself relegated or promoted over the course of 46 games, not just the last one.

“We played well again in this one and it got fairly desperate at the end but we couldn’t get the goal we needed to put the pressure on Gateshead.

“Fair play to them as they won at home and deserve to be in the play-offs.

“They finished third in the end and good luck to them, but you have to philosophical and say we continue to make progress.

“What was a 12th-place finish two years ago became ninth last year and is now sixth.

“It will be very hard to better that next year, but we know what we have to do.”