BRAINTREE Town boss Ryan Maxwell hailed his side's display at Maidstone United as the best since he took over after they claimed a fine 2-0 win, writes DAVID WARD.

The Iron pulled off a tremendous and fully deserved win at the Gallagher Stadium on Tuesday evening with a well-organised and cohesive team display.

The win leaves Braintree in 19th spot in National League South, five points clear of bottom spot.

Maxwell said: “Losing in the way we did at Slough in stoppage time on Saturday was hard to take but the players responded in the right way and so fantastically too and everyone put in a magnificent shift on the night.

“We could have scored more than two goals but even though as expected we had to cope with severe home pressure in the second half we stood our ground and it was a tremendous all round team display – the best performance since I took over.

“We had done our homework and prepared to take the game to them from the start which is what we did and at times we played some good football with all the players working for each other.

"It was a real team effort but we must now carry on the good work and turn to prepare for the next game at home to Bath City on Saturday.”

But Maxwell satisfied with his workmanlike side’s night work adding: “It makes up for last Saturday’s result but I feel we’re making real progress game by game.”

Maxwell had lost influential central defender Taofiq Olomowewe through injury along with Sam Robbins and George Allen.

To help fill the gaps he brought in ex-Concord Rangers' Ryan Scott for his debut and he also had the benefit of returning defender Ryan Henshaw, who had missed the Slough game with a leg injury.

With new keeper Jack Giddens, who again pulled off some crucial second-half saves, making his second start the Iron played with more decisiveness and determination against a home side that included five former Iron players and an ex-manager.

With Ade Yusuff leading the Iron forward line in fine style and ably backed up by a strong, well organised midfield they attacked from the start and they deservedly took the lead on 18 minutes through an exceptionally well-taken free-kick by Arjanit Krasniqi.

He struck the 25-yard kick into the top corner of the net in a goal worthy of a higher level and when the home side tried to strike back it was keeper Giddens who kept them at bay.

Braintree wanted that second goal to give them some breathing space and it came on 31 minutes courtesy of an own goal, the experienced Scott Rendell headed in one of Iron’s skipper Matt Johnson proven long throw-ins.

It was no more than the Iron deserved at this stage but Maxwell warned his players of any complacency in the second half because he knew the home side would try and come back strongly.

They did but when that’s where Giddens came to the rescue by twice denying them a possible goal while the Iron still looked more threatening every time they broke forward.

A Corry Davidson free-kick on 72 minutes almost added a third but Johnson’s effort to get on the end of it was somehow scrambled away.

However, ten minutes later it was Giddens who again pulled off a fine save in a one-to-one with a home player.

With some fresh legs on through good substitutes the Iron managed to maintain their overall grip on proceedings and even in the dying moments, they could have added a third goal.