MANAGER Glen Driver branded Braintree Town's FA Cup defeat at Enfield Town as a "horror show".

It proved a disappointing day at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium for the Iron and their fans as their BetVictor Isthmian League premier division hosts overturned league placings to beat Vanarama National League South Braintree 2-0.

Driver had said before the second qualifying round tie that his team would be underdogs, but he knew they had more than enough quality to make it into the third qualifying round if they matched the levels that had brought them 13 points from their previous five league games.

However, a collective failing meant they crashed out of the Cup and the turnaround in form left Driver perplexed.

"As a group, we never showed up and I know the players were very disappointed with the team performance," said the Iron boss. "It wasn't individuals, it was a team thing and I think it was probably our worst of the season.

"Could I have done things differently in terms of personnel?

"Maybe, but things just weren't right throughout. "It wasn't one or two, it was 11 players who did not turn up on the day.

"It was a horror show.

"I said that we'd go there as underdogs, but we knew that we should have had enough to have beaten them if we'd been anything like we were at Havant & Waterlooville in the game before. "But you have to earn the right to play and we didn't do that. "The two goals we conceded were the poorest we have conceded all season. "Take nothing away from Enfield because they did what they had to, but we forced it when we should have been patient, we put balls into the box when there was no-one there and passed it when we should have had shots.

"It's just difficult to put my finger on because we'd been so good in previous games.

"We've gone to places like Chippenham, Concord and Havant & Waterlooville and got good results there and almost did at Dartford, but this just seemed like one of those days.

"People could say it's the luck of the draw in the Cup and we weren't the only victims from our league as Dorking lost and Chelmsford and Concord did as well, so a few came unstuck.

"We were desperate to do well because a cup run can help your budget, but we just didn't turn up and that was disappointing."

While Braintree received £2,250 in prize money from the FA Cup tie, their defeat meant they missed out on a £6,750 pay out that they would have got as winners, a guaranteed £3,750 from the third qualifying round and a potential £11,250 had they won in the next round.

That is a blow, but Driver said he didn't expect it to affect his plans.

He added: "To be fair, we have never talked about the FA Cup or what would be done with any money from it.

"From day one, all I've asked for is that the budget I'm given stays the same so I know what I have to work with.

"So we just have to put this one to bed and make sure we turn up to face Oxford City on Saturday."