KIDDERMINSTER HARRIERS 3 BRAINTREE TOWN 1

Vanarama Conference Premier

Braintree Town’s usually solid defence had a 45 minutes to forget at Kidderminster Harriers as the Iron had a sore hangover from their midweek misfire.

They were well under-par in their 2-0 defeat by the Vanarama Conference Premier’s rock bottom side, AFC Telford, four days earlier and had been hoping to bounce back positively in the West Midlands.

Harriers came into the game without a win in their previous nine games and had lost their last four, but the game was effectively beyond the Iron with just 13 minutes of it gone.

Their defence has been one of their strengths this season and only eight sides in the Vanarama Conference Premier have conceded fewer goals than them.

However, the team had a collective 45 minutes to forget at the Aggborough Stadium as they couldn’t handle long balls forward and the direct running of Harriers experienced front pairing of Danny Wright and Lee Hughes.

And it was Wright who dealt the first blow to the visitors.

With just eight minutes on the clock, the former Wrexham and Cambridge United striker gave Iron keeper Nick Hamann little chance as he powered home the opening goal.

That setback was compounded less than four minutes later when Hughes, a player who has commanded more than £7.75 million in transfer fees in an accomplished career at the top levels of English football, added a second.

He got clear of the lacklustre Iron defence and slotted the ball home to leave Braintree with an uphill task.

They did settle a bit and went looking for goals, but the visitors were dealt another blow in the 30th minute when striker Sean Marks had to be stretchered off with a nasty-looking ankle injury.

And Kidderminster twisted the knife before half-time as Wright scored his second of the afternoon as he reacted quickest to a loose ball from Jack Byrne’s cross to put Kidderminster 3-0 ahead.

There wasn’t much time for a half-time autopsy, but whatever was said in the dressing room at the break finally woke Braintree from their torpor.

They came out with renewed vigour and got themselves back in the game within 30 seconds of the restart as skipper Kenny Davis took advantage of the ball falling kindly just outside the home box.

He curled a delightful shot into the top corner that gave home keeper Daniel Lewis no chance.

It was just the lift that his team needed and they suddenly looked more like the Braintree that had been in such good form before the Telford clash.

Kidderminster stopped being a troublesome force going forward while the visitors created a string of good chances at the other end.

Bernard Mensah and Matt Paine had decent opportunities that they were unable to finish and that, unfortunately for Braintree, was the way it stayed.

They just couldn’t force a second goal that may have brought jitters to the home team and Kidderminster held out for the win as the Iron paid for that poor first half performance.

Braintree: Nick Hamann, Ryan Peters, Mitch Brundle, Matt Paine, Sam Habergham, Alan Massey, Chez Isaac (Dan Sparkes 63), Kenny Davis, Simeon Akinola, Bernard Mensah (James Mulley 82), Sean Marks (Jordan Cox 33). Subs not used:  Joe Maybanks, Carl Pentney. Referee: Paul Rees.