ADE Cole felt that Braintree Town showed their intent by battling for three Vanarama National League South points despite not being at their best in their 1-0 victory against Oxford City.

Cole was the Iron's first-half penalty-spot hero as they made it four wins in a row at Cressing Road and lifted them up to fifth in the table, however, they struggled to dominate the game in the second half and had to be resolute in defence to hold on to their precious three point haul.

But the Braintree midfielder felt it was encouraging that the team were able to take an important victory even when they were well short of the levels they knew they were capable of.

“It wasn’t the best of performances from us but we got the win," he said.

“You know you will get games like that in a season and to still get three points out of it shows a lot of what we are about.

“We can win when we’re not at our best but when we do play well we have shown what we can really do.

“It was a good win.

“We are placed well in the league and we’re up to fifth now so it’s been a good start.

“We just have to continue and see what we can do.

“I think we can do whatever we put our minds to."

Cole's decisive goal came in the 34th minute after striker Tom Richardson had been fouled at a corner and, in a tight encounter, he stepped up and calmly slotted the ball into the bottom corner of the Oxford goal.

He said: “I’m confident with taking penalties so as soon as we got it, I composed myself and passed it in.

“It was good to get a goal."