DEAL TOWN ... 2, BRAINTREE TOWN ... 0

After a long and unproductive trip into the depths of Kent on Saturday, Braintree manager Ben Embery was left no nearer to establishing what is likely to be his first team line up for the opening Ryman League Division One game in two weeks time.

The visit to Deal was arranged to enable the home side to bid an emotional farewell to the players and management that had brought unprecedented success to the club last season by winning the Kent League Championship, the Kent Senior Trophy and capping it all by carrying off the FA Vase before a crowd of over 20,000 at Wembley Stadium.

Because of the problems affecting the lease of the Deal ground from the Local Authority the future of the club has been shrouded in uncertainty resulting in the departure of the manager and most of his playing staff.

This was the background to this final gathering in which the Braintree contingent must have felt ill at ease and unable to make a positive contribution on such a sad occasion.

Starting with yet another combination to give everyone in the squad an opportunity Braintree never really got into their stride although they did have the best of the early scoring chances with Leon Gutzmore twice going close.

Quite naturally the Deal team were intent on going out on a winning note and they seemed to have more appetite for the game.

It was no surprise therefore when the home side took the lead in the 21st minute although there was a suspicion that Roly Graham may have been in an offside position when he shot past Dean Mahoney.

From then on there were constant comings and goings particularly on the Braintree bench and this led inevitably to more disjointed play.

A second goal for Deal came in the 61st minute with a well taken effort by Steve Marshall and this signalled the end of the road for the visitors.

Although having a fair share of the midfield exchanges there were few signs of a goal coming from the Braintree end and it probably will not be until a settled team emerges that things will improve.

The Braintree squad at Deal was: Mahoney, Curly, Jones, Howard, Cowan, Jobson, Leek, Noble, Smith, Stanley, Tanner, Quinton, Renshaw, Reinelt and Kelly.

Forthcoming fixtures: pre-season friendlies Saturday August 5 v Concord Rangers (away) (kick-off 3pm) and Tuesday August 8, v Halstead Town (away) (kick-off 7.45pm).

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