BRAINTREE Town boss Steve Pitt felt a sense of deja-vu after his side were beaten 3-1 at Forest Green Rovers, at the New Lawn.
The Iron, whose relegation from the National League was confirmed last week, lost out to Robbie Savage's side who guaranteed a National League play-off place.
Pitt told the Braintree Town YouTube channel : "It was the perfect snapshot of our season really.
"We were the better side in the first half in my opinion and conceded a poor goal, from a defensive point of view.
"We didn't take our chances and we had some good chances in the first half, as well.
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"In the second half, we decided to use the wind to our advantage, which I thought we did.
"We scored a really well-worked goal and were undoubtedly the better side, from the start of the second half onwards at the point we scored.
"We were thinking we could go on and win it and based on the balance of play, we probably should do.
"Even when they scored it was against the run of play but they scored very quickly, there after.
"From there on in, we were chasing the game.
Defeat in the West.#IronArmy | Forged in 1898 pic.twitter.com/Pp6qO0XO55
— Braintree Town FC (@braintreetownfc) April 11, 2026
"I think the last 10 or 15 minutes just became a bit non-descript really, in terms of the game itself.
"I don't think we actually believed we were going to peg them back and get back in it and I think they felt that based on their performance levels, they'd settle for what they'd got and got the job done.
"Our average age today is 22 and unfortunately, with that age of player particularly with all the loans we've got from the Premier League clubs and what have you, with the lads generally 19, 20, you're going to make mistakes and unfortunately, that's the story of our season really.
"There's moments in games where we're really good, there's moments in games where we switch off just momentarily and their three goals were a perfect example of that.
"Other than that, I thought we were really good."
D'Mani Mellor put Forest Green in front in the 37th minute, following up to score after Kyle McAllister's effort had come back off the crossbar.
Goalkeeper Harry Isted came to the hosts' rescue shortly before half-time as he denied Lewis Walker when the Braintree man found himself through on goal.
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But Walker made no mistake in the 58th minute, tapping home from Chay Cooper's teasing low cross.
Tom Knowles put Forest Green back in front in the 71st minute, finally beating Mason Terry after the Iron keeper had first kept out McAllister's long-range shot and then Knowles' header.
Nick Haughton wrapped up the win three minutes later, firing home from Mellor's pass.
Braintree host promotion-chasing Rochdale in their final home game of the season, on Saturday.
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