Alfie Cerulli strikes with another late Braintree Town winner

Vanarama National League South

Braintree Town left it late again but, for the second game running, the Iron came from behind to seal a dramatic three-point haul in Vanarama National League South.

On Bank Holiday Monday, it had been Dorking Wanderers who were beaten by a late goal at home, but this time it was Chippenham Town who were given the treatment as Iron won on the road.

Chippenham had been leading at half-time after an early strike by Curtis McDonald, but Braintree staged a superb second-half recovery for a 2-1 victory.

Having had the disappointment of seeing a penalty saved after the break, they kept pressing and got their reward when new signing Tobi Coker made an instant impact with a debut goal.

And better was to come as, after Alfie Cerulli had stepped off the bench, the former Braintree Academy striker fired in a winner with just three minutes remaining.

It may not have been quite as late as in the previous game but the end result was the same – another three points for Glen Driver’s side.

There were two changes for Braintree from the side that won in dramatic fashion at the death of their game against Dorking Wanderers on Monday.

They saw Ollie Saunders return in place of Harry Osbourne, while former Barnet trainee Coker made a first Iron start after joining as Adam Mills was starting a three-match suspension.

After finishing the previous game so strongly, though, Braintree were unable to continue that buoyant form into this one and they were behind after 14 minutes.

Chippenham’s opener came when good work from Karnell Chambers saw the ball crossed in for McDonald to fire the Bluebirds into the lead.

Having fallen behind, Braintree pushed for an equaliser, but the closest they went was when a free-kick rattled the Chippenham woodwork just before the half-hour mark and the hosts held on to their lead until half-time.

However, the Iron soon saw a chance to draw level after the restart when they were awarded a penalty early in the second half.

They were unable to convert, though, as ex-Braintree keeper Will Puddy kept the ball out from the spot-kick.

Braintree were almost left feeling even more aggrieved when Chris Zebroski put the ball in the back of the Iron net, but it was ruled out for offside and Iron were made much happier as they pulled level on 67 minutes.

It was Coker who put the smiles on Braintree faces as he made an instant impact by netting on his Iron debut to pull his new team level.

And those smiles grew even bigger in the 87th minute as Braintree completed the comeback and Cerulli fired in the winner to send their fans in the crowd of 468 heading back to Essex feeling very happy indeed.

The win moved Braintree up to eighth in the table ahead of a trip to Concord Rangers on Tuesday.

Braintree Town: Michael Johnson, Josh Urquhart, Michael Clark, Jake Hutchings, Ollie Saunders, Tyler Christian-Law, Jason Banton (Sean Bonnett-Johnson), Ade Cole, Femi Akinwande, Tom Richardson (Alfie Cerulli), Tobi Coker (Rob Harvey).

Subs not used: Charley Barker, Sergio Manesio.