BRAINTREE Town assistant manager Danny Searle was adamant that they hadn’t got what they deserved from a 1-1 draw with Boreham Wood.

While the Iron were the only side in the Vanarama National League’s bottom five sides to get anything from their respective games on the day, the result left them still bottom and eight points from safety.

However, it was a performance from Braintree that suggested they are capable of hauling themselves off the foot over Christmas.

The hosts came away knowing they should really have taken all three points, but Searle said just knowing they deserved it was little consolation.

He said: “We need points, so one point is better than none, but I think everyone in the ground, including Boreham’s management and staff who we spoke to after the game, agreed that we deserved the three points there.

“But we can’t keep saying that and we do need to make sure that we are putting it away."

Braintree took the lead with a great strike by Lyle Della-Verde on 30 minutes and a disappointing lapse five minutes after half-time allowed Boreham Wood to equalise when Justin Shaidu scored from close range.

However, the Iron picked themselves up and had chances to grab a winner, most notably from an 82nd minute penalty that Billy Crook pushed wide of the target and they had to settle for just a point.

“I feel sorry for Bill,” added Searle.

“He’s a great penalty taker and everyone at the club knows that.

“I think actually and if you look at the replay, the ball has just rolled into a dip as he’s made his run up to take it and that didn’t help him.

“But we can’t look at the penalty miss and say that was the deciding factor of the game.

“There were a lot of decisions that could have been better, but performance-wise, we couldn’t have been prouder of the boys and the shift they put in.

“There was a real vibe in the ground.

“The attitude and effort of the players has been outstanding since we’ve been here but it was a different atmosphere this time.

“We were just oozing confidence.

“We had been training well and even after the disruption of having two games postponed at Salisbury, the general environment has been good and they took that on to the pitch.

“I thought for the first time, we looked like we were the ones who were going to get a late winner as opposed to what we have serially been doing in giving it to the opposition.”

Searle also said that the players and staff appreciated the backing they got from the home supporters during and after the game.

He said: “The fans were great and I felt they really embraced the lads and the work they did.

“The applause they got coming off the pitch at the end was nice to see and they deserved that.

“The effort and the attitude of the lads was top drawer and if we take that forward then we’ll get that little bit of luck we need to tip things in our favour.

“They deserve it because they have worked really hard.”