BRAINTREE Town maintained their unbeaten record on Saturday but their 0-0 draw with Weymouth is not one that will live long in the memory or one they will want to cherish, writes RON FOSKER.
Apart from one or two Iron flurries, it was the visitors, 22nd in the table, who always looked the more likely to score.
That they didn’t was down once again to a resolute backline performance where Kyran Clements and Baris Altintop coped commendably without the injured John White and behind them Jack Sims – named in the division’s team of the month for February - gobbled up anything that looked dangerous.
White was not the only absentee and the paucity of resources is becoming a bit of a concern for manager Angelo Harrop.
And he will now have to cope without Alfie Pavey after the striker unwisely and uncharacteristically launched into a dangerous tackle in the 54th minute that resulted in an immediate dismissal.
Curiously, it was an incident that lifted the match out of its torpor as the Dorset side scented a possible victory while Iron knew they had to knuckle down and showed some bite that had largely been absent up to that point.
Apart from an opening for Aaron Blair in the first minute when he fired wide after breaking through the defence, most of the action up to the sending-off had been in the Iron half.
Despite their lowly league position, Weymouth had had some notable victories recently, including a win over second-placed Dartford and a 5-0 thrashing of Concord – who Braintree struggled to beat 1-0 last month – in their last three matches.
It was not difficult to see why as they dominated play in the first half.
After some clever approach play, Ahkeem Rose headed over and shortly afterwards had a strong shot deflected for a corner.
An even better chance came to Tom Blair as he broke clear of the defence but Jack Sims was alert to the danger and smothered his effort.
Two minutes later, there were further warning signs as the same player dribbled from the wing all the way across to the middle of the penalty area, evading tackles on the way, before his eventual shot was blocked.
Tom Bearwish also got in on the act with a shot that was narrowly wide of the post.
In that time, only Aaron Blair’s early miss and a Pavey header that was not far wide were effectively the sum total of Braintree’s efforts on goal..
The second half started like the first with Blair missing a good opportunity. This time Pavey worked his way through on the right and found Blair in the middle, but his shot hit the post.
That was virtually Pavey’s last contribution to the game but his dismissal galvanised his teammates who allowed the opposition far fewer chances than they had in the first half.
The only heart-in-the-mouth moment came towards the end of the match when Sims spilled a free kick but Alfie Payne was on hand to hook the ball away from danger.
Iron had a couple of chances to win the game, once when Alfie Matthews misread a cross when in a good position and then when a quick break left Lamar Reynolds and Blair with only one defender between them and the goal, but Reynolds miscontrolled the ball and the chance was gone.
A glimmer of hope came to supporters’ eyes in time added on when Iron were awarded a free kick and memories turned back to the previous home match when Matthews had scored the only goal of the game from 25 yards out.
But this time the distance was greater and Matthews’ aim less sure, not requiring the keeper to move as the ball nestled in his hands.
With games coming thick and fast and injuries piling up, the loss of Pavey through suspension is a blow Harrop could have done without.
Braintree: Jack Sims; Leon Davies, Kyran Clements, Baris Altintop, Kyron Farrell; Alfie Payne; Chris Regis (Alfie Matthews 46), Jack Turner, Matt Rush (Lamar Reynolds 70); Aaron Blair (Brandon Njoku 87), Alfie Pavey
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