Iron boss is happy as players get game time against the Hammers (From Braintree and Witham Times)

Iron boss is happy as players get game time against the Hammers

8:31am Thursday 13th September 2012 in Sport By Simon Spurgeon

Alan Devonshire was delighted with the way his Braintree Town players performed as they got valuable minutes on the pitch in their friendly encounter against West Ham.

The Iron boss was impressed with the performances of players who hadn’t seen much action in recent weeks as they beat the Hammers’ development squad – that also included several first-teamers – 4-0 in front of almost 900 people at the Amlin Stadium.

Unfortunately the game had to abandoned after 65 minutes due to a floodlight failure after a general power cut in the area, but Devonshire had got what he wanted from the encounter.
 

He said: “We did really and while it was a shame about the floodlight failure, we put some really good stuff together.

“I had five or six players who needed a game so it was the perfect exercise for us.

“West Ham brought a good team with three of their first-team players and we scored four goals past them.”

A club statement explained that the floodlight problem had coincided with a failure to adjacent residential properties and chairman Lee Harding said contractors would be examining for any damage done to the stadium’s lighting system.

Harding said: “Our lighting system had a thorough overhaul in both 2007 and last season, but we apologise for the abandonment of the match.

“I think most accepted that it was down to circumstances beyond our control, but we do appreciate everyone’s patience given the circumstances.”