STEVE Pitt praised his Braintree Town side after they claimed a precious 1-0 win at Woking to boost their National League survival hopes.
New signing Aramide Oteh scored his first Iron goal to secure three points, at Kingfield Stadium.
Braintree’s winner came in the eighth minute when Woking keeper Will Jaaskelainen could only parry Lewis Walker’s attempt into the path of Oteh at the far post and he needed no second invitation to score.
Iron boss Pitt told the Braintree Town YouTube channel : “I thought it had a little bit of everything, to be honest with you, from start to finish.
“We thoroughly deserved it and were better than the opposition, in my humble opinion.
“We started off on the front foot in the first half and I don’t think a three or four-goal margin at half-time would have flattered us.
“Including the goal, we had five good chances in my opinion.
POST MATCH! - Three points on the road to finish the year! https://t.co/uNrUdWgR3U #IronArmy | Forged in 1898 pic.twitter.com/WnWdLKSSvL
— Braintree Town FC (@braintreetownfc) December 31, 2025
“I said to the players at half-time, let this not be another performance where we’ve produced a really, really good, positive first half and then we lose our way in the second half.
“We knew that the dynamic of the game would change; we knew that they would probably change their shape and personnel and they brought two lads on at half-time and went to a 4-1-4-1.
“We had to be prepared for that and we were always going to be on the back foot in my opinion; we were never going to be as expansive in the second half, because they were going to come at us.
“But I thought we showed a different side to our character in the second half but a really, really good side to our character and I thought we defended supremely well.
OH WHAT FUN IT IS TO SEE, THE BRAINTREE WIN AWAY. HEY!#IronArmy | Forged in 1898 pic.twitter.com/TCbwi4v9fv
— Braintree Town FC (@braintreetownfc) December 30, 2025
“We still tried to hit them on the counter and retain possession and I thought all in all, it was a job really, really well done.”
After Oteh’s early opener, keeper Jaaskelainen saved well from Chay Cooper and was relieved to see a second attempt from the Braintree midfielder come back off the underside of the crossbar before denying Walker and Oteh as the home side came under intense pressure.
Keeper Mason Terry claimed Chinwike Okoli's 77th-minute header from a Harry Beautyman cross with the hosts making a better fist of it, but ultimately they could not rescue a point.
The win leaves Braintree a point above the relegation zone, heading into 2026.
The Iron are next in action on Saturday when they visit Yeovil Town, kick-off 5.30pm.
Pitt added: “It’s a difficult place to go – we’ll need a performance level that’s at least comparable [to Woking] if not better.
“But as always, we’ll be ready and we’ll be prepared.”
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