Braintree Town moved to within a point of the play-off places in Blue Square South after securing a 1-1 draw at St Albans City.

The Iron grabbed a point thanks to a rare goal from long-serving left-back Mark Jones, who scored from long range with five minutes to go to rescue a point for his side and extend their unbeaten run to four matches.

Strong winds made things difficult for both sets of players but St Albans seemed to cope better with the conditions in the first half, playing up the slope.

They almost took the lead after six minutes when Drew Roberts headed over the bar from a good position but Braintree generally defended well.

The wind was in Iron's favour in the second half and they almost took the lead on the hour mark through George Purcell, whose ferocious 20-yard effort smacked the woodwork.

But it was St Albans who broke the deadlock with 16 minutes to go.

Substitute Johnson weaved his way through the Braintree defence to slot the ball home past goalkeeper David Blackmore.

It looked as though Braintree were heading for defeat.

But after good work by new signing Alex Rhodes, defender Jones collected the ball from Purcell and unleashed a 25-yard rocket which beat Bastock and flew into the net.

Braintree went in search of a winning goal after that and had the better of the closing stages.

But any extra momentum they built ebbed away when their centre-back Paul Goodacre was sent off after picking up a second yellow card of the match.

The draw moved Braintree up to seventh place in Blue Square South, level on points with rivals Bishop's Stortford and a point behind fourth-placed Woking.