IRON TAKE SPOILS IN NINE-GOAL THRILLER
AMID all the chaos of this nine-goal extravaganza, Braintree Town claimed a significant win to overtake Southport and climb out of the National League relegation zone.
Leading inside the opening minute, the Iron came from 3-1 down midway through the first half to claim victory in extraordinary circumstances, Jack Midson scoring the decisive goal to win a game which ebbed and flowed dramatically.
“I try not to get too high or too low during matches but today it was an emotional roller-coster,” said Braintree manager Hakan Heyret-tin.
“To come here and win is a good achievement, regardless of how it came about. We’ve changed the way we play, I want to move the ball about quickly and the players are responding.”
While the entertainment value could not be questioned, this errorstrewn contest was a clear lesson in how not to defend.
It took just 58 seconds for Michael Cheek to open the scoring, converting Monty Patterson’s right-wing cross with a first-time finish at the near post, and that set the tone for an incredible first-half goal avalanche.
Jack Higgins levelled for Southport after Braintree had failed to clear a corner from Ben McKenna, whose 25-yard drive cannoned off a post before the scoring continued at an remarkable rate.
On 28 minutes, Josh Thompson headed home Ryan Higgins’ rightwing cross and, less than 60 seconds later, an attempted clearance from goalkeeper Sam Beasant ricocheted against Andrai Jones and into the unguarded goal.
Danny Rumens pulled a goal back for Braintree from a Patterson corner before the visitors levelled on 36 minutes when a left-wing freekick from Oliver Muldoon went straight through a crowded penalty area into the Southport goal. And the visitors regained the lead in the third minute of added time, Jack Higgins inadvertently sending another set-play from Muldoon into his own net. Jamie Allen equalised for Southport, converting a penalty after goalkeeper Beasant had brought down Andrai Jones in the area. But having seen Simeon Akinola’s header turned onto the crossbar by goalkeeper Magnus Norman, Braintree claimed the win on 64 minutes, as Midson nodded home a corner from Patterson. “Both sides were pretty poor defensively and I thought we’d seen the last of that from us,” rued Southport manager Steve Burr. “It was shambolic at times, we had spoken about Braintree’s strengths in putting the ball into the box but we didn’t deal with it. “We started off sloppily and got ourselves ahead but we’ve got a lot to work on to eradicate those mistakes.”