WHILE he was pleased with plenty of aspects of his team's performance, it was the overall result of Braintree Cricket Club's first game of the season that pleased new captain Dan Garner most of all.

Garner's side got their Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship division two campaign off to the best possible start as they beat visiting Ipswich and East Suffolk by six wickets and they will look to build on that when they head to old rivals Copford on Saturday.

Braintree had been relegated from the top flight last year so knew a strong start to the season was vital and the new skipper was pleased to hit the ground running.

"The win was the most important thing to get out of the game," said Garner.

"Our performance and form will improve but the win gives us the momentum that we wanted to start with.

"Playing in a lower division, you sometimes can expect some complacency to creep in but the team showed throughout the day that they were up for the game and the convincing victory was just rewards.

"Our fielding was particularly pleasing; over the winter I wanted us to concentrate on keeping our fielding standards high and that paid off with two runs outs in Ipswich’s innings.

"But, also, our opening bowlers were both exceptional to start with.

"With Will Jackson not being able to bowl due to him running the London Marathon on Sunday, Robbie Spalding took the lead with the new ball and he took two for 13 off seven overs.

"And Matthew Hollingsworth, who turned 17 the following day, took one for 12 off seven as well.

"With a pitch that was offering some assistance, they both bowled with great consistency and control of the swinging ball and our opening batsmen then showed a lot of class and control.

"As the pitch was slow and offering the bowlers plenty, Chris (Leech) and Warren (Celiz) were both solid in defence and punishing when the bowler bowled a poor ball.

"Unfortunately, they fell just short off a hundred partnership but they gave our innings the start we hoped for."

Garner, who was out in the middle when the winning runs were struck, said taking charge for the first time had been a pleasurable experience.

He added: "To captain first the first time on Saturday was extremely satisfying.

"The whole team gave me a lot of support and of course the performance helped.

"To bring the team home as well was the cherry on top.

"We had a slight wobble when losing four wickets for only 28 in the middle overs, but I was very pleased to get us over the line."

Braintree will now look to follow their opening success with a strong display on the road on Saturday, but the captain is warning against any complacency after the early victory.

He added: "The win should give us plenty of confidence going into next week against Copford, we have to start from scratch again and concentrate on our performance.

"Copford look to have had a decent game last week, scoring over 300 and winning, so that should remind the team that every game is going to be tough.

"We are set to lose Dan Chalk so we are expecting at least one change to the team."