BRAINTREE TOWN 0 MAIDSTONE UNITED 0

Vanarama National League

In a game that neither side could really afford to lose, neither did as Braintree Town and Maidstone United shared a point in a 0-0 Vanarama National League draw.

With both teams battling to get clear of relegation danger, they knew a defeat could significantly harm their own chances of staying up while boosting the others at the same time.

So both would have breathed a sigh of relief that they hadn’t dropped points, but in truth, it was a scrappy game in blustery conditions.

There were nervy moments at both ends.

Maidstone had a few chances, but, while the Iron had the better opportunities to score, both sides had to settle for a point in a hard-fought encounter.

Braintree manager Hakan Hayrettin made three changes from the side that had been beaten 2-0 at Macclesfield Town seven days earlier.

Defender Jake Goodman was out as he failed to recover from a hamstring injury picked up in that trip to Macclesfield as Ian Gayle returned to the starting line-up.

There was also a return for Jack Midson as he came back from a calf strain meaning Lee Barnard dropped to the bench and Kyron Farrell was replaced by Harry Lee in the centre of midfield.

The attendance was just two people over the 1,000 mark, with 445 Maidstone fans who made their presence felt from behind the Quag End of the ground.

With Maidstone opting to attack with the strong and gusting wind on their backs towards the Quag End in the first half, they made the early running in the game.

Maidstone kept trying to use the wind to bomb high balls from set-pieces and long throw-ins into the Iron box and it led to some scrappy tussles in the home area between the two sets of players.

Braintree were on the back foot early on and their cause wasn’t helped by both Sean Clohessy and Chez Isaac picking up cautions in the first few minutes.

They saw off their visitors’ opening surge, though, and started to get more of a foothold as they adapted to the testing conditions.

In the tenth minute, the Iron’s first opening came as Monty Patterson broke through on goal but his run took him a bit wide and Maidstone keeper Lee Morgan made a scrappy and rather unconventional save with his feet.

There was then a sight of goal three minutes later from a free-kick when Manny Parry headed just wide, but things remained fairly even between the two sides.

Partly due to the conditions but also with both teams knowing what was at stake in the game, it wasn’t a fluid encounter and much of the play was scrappy.

Braintree had to be very disciplined in their defending under a stern examination that came from long throw-ins in advanced areas by Maidstone’s Alex Flisher.

He used the wind to hurl the ball into the danger area at every opportunity and the home defenders needed to be alert to the threats.

The visitors thought they had gone ahead just before the break from one ball into the middle – this time from a corner – but referee Alan Young blew his whistle for a foul by Jamie Coyle to cut any celebrations short and leave it goalless at the break.

Braintree came back out knowing they would have the wind advantage in the second half and within seconds of the restart, a free-kick from Reece Hall-Johnson saw them inches away from taking the lead.

It was met by a bullet header from Gayle only for Morgan to spring acrobatically to his left and palm the ball away with an amazing stop.

The ball span invitingly free and Midson was first to react, but the spin of the ball saw him skew his shot horribly and it went wide.

The Iron weren’t able to capitalise on their bright start, though, and it was Maidstone started to press again.

Braintree’s defending remained solid, but Sam Beasant was tested in the 65th minute by a shot from Tom Mills that swerved and dipped on the Iron keeper, who was required to make a save by palming the ball to safety.

But as good as Braintree’s defence was, Maidstone stayed equally as tight as the game headed into the final quarter and the two sides remained deadlocked.

The 73rd minute saw Maidstone almost go ahead with a ball over the top and Delano Sam-Yorke lofted a shot that just cleared the bar and nestled on to the roof of the net.

The play shifted to the other end and Hall-Johnson broke on the right before unleashing a fierce low drive that nearly deceived Morgan.

The ball squirmed underneath the Stones keeper and Monty Patterson raced in to slam it into the net, however, home jubilation was curtailed as they realised an offside flag had been raised against the Ipswich loanee.

The action stayed end-to-end and the home goal led a charmed life in a goalmouth scramble, with several frantic clearances needed to maintain parity, before Manny Parry stabbed an effort just over the Stones’ crossbar.

In the end, though, neither could find a way through and both had to settle for a valuable point in their respective quests to stay in the division.

Braintree Town: Sam Beasant, Jerome Okimo, Manny Parry, Ian Gayle, Sean Clohessy, Chez Isaac, Harry Lee, Reece Hall-Johnson, Monty Patterson, Jack Midson, Michael Cheek.

Subs not used: Joe Maybanks, Sam Corne, Claudio Dias, Alex Henshall, Lee Barnard.

Referee: Alan Young