BRAINTREE TOWN 1 YORK CITY 1

Vanarama National League

Braintree Town halted their losing run as Lee Barnard stepped off the bench to fire in a last-minute penalty and earn a deserved draw against fellow Vanarama National League strugglers York City.

A fifth defeat had looked on the cards as they came up against the immovable object of York City keeper Kyle Letheren when creating chance after chance in the second half, but he was eventually beaten in the dying moments.

York came to Braintree under every bit as much pressure as their hosts, with Simon Heslop’s early goal giving them a much-needed lift and it looked as though they would hold on for the win.

However, a foul on Michael Cheek in the 89th minute gave the Iron a lifeline and Barnard made no mistake with his kick despite Simeon Akinola having failed to convert from the spot earlier in the match.

York came into the game on the back of a 6-1 drubbing by Guiseley in midweek and had released a statement earlier in the wake of that saying that in the absence of a positive result for them from this one, then boss Jackie McNamara would depart the club.

Whether this 1-1 draw will be enough to safeguard his position remains to be seen, but it was very welcome for Braintree, who ended a run of four defeats and went up a place in the table while earning Hakan Hayrettin his first point as Iron boss.

There were two changes for Braintree from the side that started the 2-1 defeat by Boreham Wood on Tuesday, with Michael Cheek dropping to the bench and Craig Braham Barrett not involved.

Coming in were Barney Williams, who slotted in at right-back, and AFC Bournemouth loanee Sam Matthews, who made a return to the starting line-up.

The game took a while to settle down as it started at a frantic pace, but Braintree saw more of the ball in the early stages and looked to press high up the pitch.

They knew that a good start could be vital against a team that had conceded six goals to the side sitting bottom of the division in their previous game.

They did that, with some positive early play, but came unstuck when York made their first meaningful foray forward in the sixth minute.

The Minstermen opened the scoring against the run of play when abreak down the left opened the Iron defence.

The worked the ball across the penalty area to where Simon Heslop was waiting to fire low past Will Puddy in the home goal to once again leave Braintree having to come back from a goal down.

And things almost got worse less than a minute later when York went close to taking a 2-0 lead.

A slip by Williams left the door open for Danny Galbraith to have a clear sight of goal but Braintree were left breathing a big sigh of relief that the York man pulled his shot wide and the ball bounced off the outside of the post.

It wasn’t the start Braintree had hoped for and meant the Aldershot game remained as the only time this season they had taken the lead in a game.

However, they were given a lifeline in the 11th minute when a penalty was awarded for a foul in the area on Simeon Akinola.

In truth, it looked a bit of a soft foul, but not as soft as Akinola’s resulting spot-kick.

The Iron man tried to place it but his kick lacked power and York keeper Kyle Letheren was able to get down to his right and tip the ball away.

Braintree tried to pick themselves up from the setback, but struggled to make an impact on the York goal from open play and their main threats came from long throws by Harry Lee.

From one of these, in the 40th minute, they at least forced a save out of Letheren.

In the second phase of play, the ball fell to George Elokobi, who saw his shot blocked by Clovis Kamdjo and the rebound was headed towards goal by Ian Gayle, but Letheren made the save.

Braintree had one more chance to be level at the break after a great ball from the left was played to Chez Isaac at the back post.

His square ball into the middle was inches away from Oli Muldoon firing in from close range and as Kamdjo tried to clear, he almost put the ball into his own net, but it was cleared off the line as the visitors held on to their advantage.

Braintree boss Hakan Hayrettin identified that he needed more height up front at the start of the second half and exchanged Midson for Michael Cheek.

And there was almost an instant goal as a ball to the back post found Isaac again and after his fierce shot was saved by Leteheren, Muldoon's follow-up was blocked away.

It was more encouraging for the Iron and they were able to craft a series of chances to score.

A decent ball into the middle from Matthews eluded all the York defenders and Elokobi was inches away from connecting as Letheren gathered, while more pressure then ended with ball falling to Akinola in the box and his acrobatic shot flew just wide.

It continued with Cheek racing clear of the back line and after Letheren made a superb save, the combination of Lanre Oyebanjo and Jack Higgins just about cleared the loose ball off the line with Akinola trying to pounce.

With York now offering little at the other end, another chance came on 78 minutes and it was a golden opportunity for Braintree to equalise.

The ball dropped to Cheek in the middle of the box and he got his shot away but it was straight at Letheren with the whole goal to fire at.

The York keeper made yet another block to leave the Iron frustrated once again.

But just as it looked like the Iron would be denied, Cheek was sent sprawling in the box and referee David Rock pointed to the spot for a second time in the match.

This time, it was Barnard who stepped forward and every bit of his experienced showed as he rammed the ball into the back of the net to secure the point that Braintree’s second-half display had merited.

Braintree: Will Puddy, Barney Williams, Jerome Okimo, Ian Gayle, George Elokobi, Harry Lee (Reece Hall-Johnson 71), Chez Isaac, Oli Muldoon (Lee Barnard 87), Sam Matthews, Jack Midson (Michael Cheek 53), Simeon Akinola.

Subs not used: Jon Ashton, Sam Corne.

Referee: David Rock