FREDDIE Sears says he wants to play with a smile on his face after helping Braintree Town beat Dartford 2-0 on his debut for the club.

The 34-year-old former Colchester United and Ipswich Town forward made his Iron bow having left Dagenham and Redbridge last week, when his contract was cancelled by mutual consent.

Sears helped Braintree maintain their fine form under former U's youngster Angelo Harrop and his former Colchester team-mate, John White.

 

Sears told the Braintree Town YouTube channel: "I just want to enjoy it.

"I just want to play with a smile on my face.

"I'm at the age now where I want to enjoy every minute of football.

"I really enjoyed it tonight - coming in and not really knowing anyone, obviously I know the manager (Angelo Harrop) and I know Whitey (John White) and it was great just to be on the pitch again.

"I've had a few weeks at home not doing too much, playing a lot of golf and padel but I'm just delighted to be back playing and hopefully we can kick on from here.

Gazette:

"I'm buzzing - it was a good result tonight and probably a game we needed to win, looking at where Dartford are in the league.

"I'm delighted to make my debut and delighted to win the game.

"I think it's 12 unbeaten now, so looking forward to Saturday now.

"I probably felt a little bit of pressure coming in knowing that it was 11 unbeaten and I didn't want to be coming in losing that game but delighted to get the win and hopefully we can kick on until the end of the season now.

"I think there's nine big games left and hopefully, we can go unbeaten until the end of the season and see where that takes us."

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Sears joined Braintree earlier this week after leaving Dagenham.

He had joined the Daggers in September 2023 following his departure from Colchester and made 23 appearances in all competitions for the club, scoring once.

Sears had made nearly 200 appearances in total for Colchester, during his two spells at the JobServe Community Stadium.

He scored 57 times for the U's but the former West Ham United youngster was restricted to 14 league starts for the club last season, with 12 of them coming before November.

 

Braintree extended their unbeaten run to 12 matches with victory over Dartford.

Goals from Shaq Coulthirst and Tom Blackwell sealed the Iron's win, at the Rare Breed Meat Co Stadium.

The visitors had Jordan Greenidge sent off in the 89th minute, after he caught goalkeeper Jack Sims with a high boot.

Writing on social media, Iron boss Angelo Harrop said: 'A very important 3 pts for us @braintreetownfc tonight against tough opposition in @dartfordfc.

'The Fans were incredible as always. Well done to everyone involved. We now move on and focus on Saturdays game'.

Braintree will be aiming to maintain their impressive form on Saturday when they visit Weymouth.