GATESHEAD 2 BRAINTREE TOWN 3

Vanarama National League

It was another long trip and another three points as Braintree Town kept their dreams of making the Vanarama National League play-offs alive with a 3-2 win at Gateshead.

Taylor Miles had been the Iron’s hero with the game’s only goal as they made a lengthy trip to Grimsby in midweek and he was on target again as they headed to the north east.

The injury worries that boss Danny Cowley had had in the days leading up to the game were thankfully avoided and his team delivered another three points.

They were points that took Braintree to 75 for the season, which took them past their previous best ever in the top-flight of non-league football of 74.

Miles got them going early with a goal from a wonderful free-kick and although the hosts levelled, Miles hit back in the 16th minute to give the visitors a valuable advantage at the break.

Losing James Curtis to a red card didn’t help Gateshead’s cause and Mitch Brundle’s goal just after the break made things even more comfortable for the Iron.

The hosts did get a goal back to make things a bit tighter than Braintree would have liked, but they held on to their lead at the final whistle.

Their three points took them back into the top five as some of the National League’s results elsewhere went their way and would have made the long trip back south seem that little bit shorter.

Braintree manager Cowley had been concerned in the week that he would have some serious injury problems for his team’s trip to Gateshead.

He told the Braintree and Witham Times that he may have to field some Academy players if first-teamers weren’t fit.

However, he would have been relieved that enough came through fitness tests for him to travel with a strong squad.

It meant he was only forced into making two changes from the line-up that started the 1-0 win at Grimsby in midweek as Chez Isaac was out with a hamstring strain and Dan Sparkes was missing due to infected sinuses.

That meant Simeon Akinola returned from a hip injury and Miles got a start after scoring the winner against the Mariners on Tuesday.

And the former Concord Rangers youngster rewarded his boss’ faith with two goals in the opening 16 minutes.

He has shown his goal-scoring aptitude from free-kicks already this season and took just four minutes to find the target in this game.

Michael Cheek had been fouled about 20 yards out and Miles stepped forward to slam the ball home and give the visitors the perfect start.

It was certainly the one they would have wanted, however, they were quickly pegged back as Gateshead equalised from a corner in the 13th minute.

Heed skipper Ben Clark was gifted too much space in the Iron area and coolly fired home into the top corner, although parity didn’t last long once more.

Within three minutes of Gateshead getting back on level terms, Miles showed his confidence as he picked the ball up about 25 yards out and as the home defence backed off, he tried his luck and slotted the ball past Heed keeper Sam Russell and into the bottom corner.

He went agonisingly close to completing a 25th minute hat-trick but Russell just about made the save from another free-kick this time.

The game stayed incredibly open and both sides had chances to add to their respective tallies, but Gateshead’s task was made tougher in the 34th minute when they were reduced to ten men.

Cheek had burst through and was one-on-one with Russell, but was dragged down by James Curtis, who had no arguments in accepting his red card as last man.

The foul led to another free-kick just outside the box and Miles sized up another chance to complete his hat-trick, but his effort was just over the bar on this occasion.

It meant it stayed with the Iron holding a slender lead in terms of goals and the number of players on the pitch at half-time and they looked to make the most of their advantage after the restart.

They did just that with just three more minutes on the clock as Mitch Brundle gave his team a 3-1 lead.

They hit the hosts on the break as Miles was involved again and he laid the ball off to Brundle, who slotted it into the net to give the Essex side the breathing space they would have been so keen to get.

They were in a comfortable position as they kept control of the game, however, defensive laxity from another corner made things tighter than they needed to be.

Gateshead gave themselves a lifeline in the 64th minute when a corner fell to Alex Whitmore and he had time to find the target to reduce the deficit back to one in the goal stakes.

It gave the Heed the impetus they needed to go looking for an equaliser and Braintree were thankful to keeper Tom King for keeping them ahead in the 74th minute.

Chris Hamilton surged forward and looked likely to score, but King managed to make the save and Ryan Bowman then steered the rebound past the post as Braintree were given a reprieve.

With his team on the back foot a bit, Braintree boss Cowley made changes to his team, most notably with Matt Paine coming on after several weeks out with an ankle injury.

He came on to give the Iron’s back four a bit more cover and things did settle down a bit as the visitors re-established a bit more control.

It allowed them to see out the game as they held on to another precious three points to keep their play-off dreams on track.

Braintree: Tom King, Sean Long, Mark Phillips, Taylor Miles (Matt Paine 76), Sam Habergham, Mitch Brundle, Matt Fry, Alex Woodyard, Simeon Akinola, Kenny Davis (Jack Powell 72), Michael Cheek (Harry Cardwell 77).

Unused subs: Sean Marks, Anthony Edgar.

Referee: Steven Rushton.