Substitute James Baker scored a late header to rescue a point for Braintree Town, as they played out a 1-1 draw at lowly St Albans City in Blue Square South.

It looked for a long time that the Iron would suffer an unexpected defeat, after they fell behind to a Paul Bruce free-kick in the first half at Clarence Park.

But Baker, who has only just returned from an ankle injury which has kept him sidelined for much of the season, salvaged a point for Braintree with four minutes to go, heading in after Ian Cousins had headed across the six-yard box.

Braintree boss Lee Patterson was relieved to claim a point from the clash and extend his side's unbeaten run to four matches.

He said: "With 15 minutes to go we were losing to a set play so with that in mind we were pleased not to get beaten.

"But we didn't impose ourselves on the game enough.

"We were a bit ragged in our honesty and we missed Bradley Quinton, who's been getting better with each game.

"We put their defence and goalie under a lot of pressure and we had a goal disallowed which we felt should have stood, but these things tend to even themselves out after a while.

"And Billy Burgess made a fantastic tackle near the end which saved a goal."

Robbie Martin and Mark Jones both had half-chances for Braintree before Bruce gave the hosts the lead from a set-piece.

Braintree started the second half brightly and had a goal disallowed, before Patterson switched to a more attacking formation.

Baker eventually headed the equaliser and only a last-ditch interception prevented Leon Archer from grabbing a winner for the Iron.