CHELMSFORD City manager Rod Stringer was satisfied with his side's toil after second half goals from Max Porter and a Shaun Jeffers penalty earned the Clarets a hard fought Essex Senior Cup quarter-final success over local rivals Braintree Town at the Melbourne Stadium.

Speaking after the match, Stringer said: “I’m pleased with that. I thought it was a good game to be honest.

"Both teams went out there to win the game which is good. Like I said, it's a cup that I respect and would like to do well in.

“There was a lot of speculation that Braintree would come here with an under-21 side, but there were quite a few players out there that I recognised, especially the centre-half, Jon Ashton.”

Following a ‘nip ‘n’ tuck’ opening period, Chelmsford grabbed the lead shortly after the hour when Porter met Kane Haysman’s corner kick with a thundering header, giving Iron goalkeeper Ben McNamara no chance.

And the Clarets booked a semi-final berth when Jeffers fired home from the spot, after the former Yeovil Town frontman had been felled by Ashton, with five minutes to go.

Stringer continued: “It was a tough contest until we got the goal. Before that, I didn’t think either goalkeeper was tested as much as perhaps they should have been. But once we got the opportunity to take the lead from Max’s header, they didn’t really come at us. Then Shaun got the penalty and closed the game off at 2-0. It was really pleasing.

“I didn’t think we started that great. We didn’t get the wide players into it enough.

"Overall, the second half was better. We got the ball down. Kane Haysman looked really bright. I was really pleased for Max Porter to get on the end of the corner to score. He’s been out for four or five weeks. That’s his first ninety minutes back.”

And Stringer believed his squad had answered any questions that might have been asked of them, adding: “People wanted to know what sort of side I was going to field. But this is Chelmsford City as a squad, it's what I’ve got.

"Tonight it was pleasing that I could give some of them ninety-minutes, which proves to me that I’ve got a little bit of back-up and perhaps now a selection headache for Saturday.”