Braintree Town manager Danny Cowley was delighted that his team were able to meet the first of their season’s objectives on their trip to Southport.

It wasn’t to be a fourth Vanarama National League victory in a row for Cowley’s team as they were pegged back in testing conditions after half-time at Haig Avenue.

However, the point they earned took their season’s tally to 50, which is the total that the manager feels should guarantee their league position for another season.

He said: “It’s 50 points now and hopefully that is enough to maintain our status in the division.

“That was always the target and was our first objective.

“We have that now in early February so we should be absolutely delighted about that as a club and we can now redefine our goals.”

The point also lifted Braintree a place to sixth in the table.

Dan Sparkes put the Iron ahead with a goal in the 35th minute before Southport’s Louis Almond cancelled that out with an equaliser after the break.

It may not have been the fifth straight win in five visits to Southport that Cowley and his team were hoping for, but on a testing Haig Avenue pitch and in blustery conditions, it was still a good point on the road.

Cowley added: “It was a heavy pitch and it was energy sapping so you have to have a real resolve and determination.

“But we have that in abundance and I was really proud of the efforts.

“It was difficult conditions for both teams but that’s non-league football in February so it’s what you’d expect.

“I thought we were excellent in the first half.

“We were really good and created lots of chances but we probably needed to take more than just the one that we did take.

“Particularly towards the end of the first half, we had a real flurry of chances and we needed to be a bit more clinical in that period.

“Credit to Southport because they came out and I felt they had a real go in the second half.

“I thought the elements went against us a little bit as the wind certainly picked up and we struggled to get out at times.

“It was a particularly strong wind in that second half but the boys showed again lots of resilience and determination, which is something that we should never take for granted.

“It was an incredibly tough journey for us (up to Southport) so for them to go there and play with the energy and enthusiasm and put the effort that they did in was credit to them.

“That’s the reason we’ve had the success we have this year.”