It was Braintree Town’s team spirit that allowed them to set up a Vanarama National League South play-off semi-final at Dartford on Sunday, according to assistant manager Andy Porter.

The Iron triumphed in their play-off eliminator at Hemel Hempstead on Wednesday night to keep their promotion dreams on track by setting up a match at Dartford on Sunday.

The game will take place at the Darts’ Princes Park home (kick-off 3pm) after Braintree held their nerve over 120 minutes of football and then in a penalty shootout at the Tudors in midweek.

It was a gruelling night that ended in a 3-2 win on spot-kicks after being goalless after extra-time and Porter hailed his team’s spirit that got them through a tight encounter.

The Iron came into it on the back of five wins and a draw in their previous six fixtures and Porter believed that it was the togetherness that the squad have built that got them over the line.

“It was a wonderful win and has kept the momentum going,” he said.

“We have six games coming into this one where we won five and drew one, which was a brilliant effort from the boys to get us in there.

“The away trip to Truro was especially key when we were away together for a night and I think you saw that togetherness come out at Hemel Hempstead.

“We needed that bond in extra-time and you saw the way that everyone was digging in for each other.

“As you can imagine, we’re delighted for the boys.

“It doesn’t matter how you get through in play-offs, it’s all about the end result and we now look forward to Dartford on Sunday.”

Fortunes ebbed and flowed during the 120 minutes at Hemel Hempstead and Porter acknowledged the fact that Braintree weren’t at their best in the early part of the game.

However, he was impressed how they rose to the challenge and felt the tie could have been decided in their favour before the shootout drama at the end.

He added: “To be quite honest, I thought we weren’t at our very best in the first half.

“I thought they pinned us back quite a bit and picked up the seconds well, to be fair.

“But we came out in the second half much much better and had a spell in that first 20 minutes.

“They did come back a little bit, but I felt there were two clear penalties that we should have had.

“When Ben (Wyatt) got brought and then when Roman (Michael-Percil) was clean through and it looked a handball, so we were disappointed with that.

“It meant it went into penalties and that can be a lottery.

“It’s on the toss of a coin, but the boys took their penalties well and we got the win we wanted."