WHILE he admitted that his team lost their way during the first half of their FA Trophy third qualifying round tie against Cray Wanderers, Braintree Town manager Brad Quinton was pleased with how they put the Wands to the sword in the latter stages.

Having been pegged back by the visitors in the opening 45 minutes and held to a goalless stalemate, Braintree showed their calibre in the second half as strikes from Karl Oliyide, Marcel Barrington and Matt Baxter took them well clear.

And Quinton was pleased to bring a £5,000 payday for the club with the third qualifying round prize money they received.

“We lost our way a little bit in the first half,” he said. “We had some chances, but Cray are a good team.

“But we had gone through plans about how we wanted to counteract them and they carried them out in the second half.

“We could have had three or four more to be fair.

“However, we left ourselves a bit open at times and I think that’s because they could see there were gaps opening up.

“We have to keep saying that they are a young bunch of boys, but we will keep working with them. They are young and they are learning from mistakes.

“It was important that we got through - and we did - and we also kept a clean sheet, which was good. So I’m pleased with that.

“Being in the hat (for the next round) is the most important thing.

“This club has been through a lot over the last couple of years with ups and downs and the financial costs of paying off two managers.

“So the trophy is important as it’s money in the bank for this club that they need.”

The Iron return to Vanarama National League South action on Saturday when they head to Wealdstone and Quinton is pleased that his team have kept their momentum going while others in the league may have slipped up when on Trophy duty last weekend.

He added: “The momentum carries on whether it is a league game or a cup tie.

“There were teams in our league who were playing each other last weekend and one of them has to go out and you have to see it as a defeat for the one who loses. Their heads will be down while we press on.”

“But it’s important that we keep working hard and look after the boys over a busy period that is coming up.”