Injury to Fry overshadows Braintree's first point

Vanarama National League

What looked like a serious knee for Braintree defender Matt Fry overshadowed Braintree Town’s first Vanarama National League point under boss Danny Cowley.

Under any other circumstances, a draw against a Tranmere Rovers side who were operating in the Football League last year would have been a reason to celebrate.

They had opened the season with defeats by Chester and Lincoln and probably looked the better of the two teams at the Avanti Stadium.

However, a nasty-looking injury for Fry cast a cloud over their achievement at the final whistle.

Braintree made two changes to their starting line-up from the one that did for their 3-1 defeat by Lincoln City in midweek.

Matt Paine made his first start of the campaign and Mark Phillips made his full debut, with Mitch Brundle suspended and Michael Cheek dropping to the bench.

It was a bright start from Braintree, just as they made in their previous two games, with crisp passing and movement going forward that troubled the Rovers defence in the opening minutes.

Clear-cut chances weren’t plentiful, but the first real opportunity came in the 11th minute when Braintree broke out from deep defence with Simeon Akinola running at the visitors’ back line.

He pressed the back line towards their own penalty area and waited to lift a shot from just outside the box but could only watch as it went just over the bar.

They had been guilty of not turning early dominance into goals against Lincoln and that was the way that this game panned out after the opening stages.

They had to stay patient, but some impressive energy didn’t allow Tranmere to settle at all and their forward play caused problems throughout the first half.

At the other end, having Paine in front of the Iron’s back four gave a more solid look to their defence and it took until the 43rd minute for Rovers to have a meaningful shot on goal.

That came after some decent build-up play that ended with Jay Harris unleashing a shot that flew wide of the target.

Braintree had started sluggishly in their defeat by Lincoln in midweek after the half-time break and paid the price for it.

So it was more heartening that they began positively this time and it almost their turn to take the lead after the restart when Sam Habergham let fly with a great effort from 30 yards.

Rovers keeper Davies looked beaten, but unfortunately for the hosts, Habergham’s shot just cleared the bar.

Instead, it was the opposition who were the sluggish ones and their fans were getting restless as they were out-battled by the Iron.

However, Rovers’ players responded and began to find their tempo as it was Braintree’s turn to soak up some pressure.

Iron keeper Will Norris stayed largely untroubled, though, and the longer the game went on, the more it looked likely that it would end in a stalemate.

There was late drama as Fry sustained his injury, though.

With five minutes to go, substitute Adam Mekki was racing clear and Fry came across with a fantastic covering tackle, however, he fell awkwardly and went straight down in a lot of pain.

He received medical treatment on the pitch and was stretchered off as the action restarted in time added on.

That saw perhaps the two best chances of the game, though.

Mekki had a great chance but fired straight at Norris and then seconds later, Sean Marks raced clear and caused Davies to make a wonderful stop.

It was the most action either goalkeeper saw all afternoon, though, and the game eventually ended at 0-0.

Braintree Town: Will Norris, Remy Clerima, Sam Habergham, Chez Isaac (Taylor Miles 80), Matt Paine, Matt Fry (Jeremy Walker 91), Kenny Davis, Simeon Akinola, Dan Sparkes (Sean Marks 63), Mark Phillips, Alex Woodyard. Subs not used:, Joe Maybanks, Michael Cheek,. Referee: John Brooks.