HAKAN KEEPS HIS COOL AS IRON DENIED A VITAL POINT

FRUSTRATED Braintree boss Hakan Hayrettin refused to berate referee Adam Bromley for the controversial disallowed goal which denied his side a point.

Just three minutes after Wrexham had taken the lead through an Oliver Shenton strike, the Iron’s young midfielder Reece Hall-Johnson fired in a fine, low shot from outside the area into the bottom right-hand corner of the Wrexham net, giving keeper Chris Dunn no chance.

But with no flag raised for a possible offside, both sets of players were mystified by the Plymouth official’s decision to immediately disallow the goal for what he told Iron players was for ‘one of them causing an obstruction’ to block Dunn’s view.

The decision enraged home fans, who vented their anger, but Hayrettin cut a relatively calm figure, instead citing missed chances as the reason for the defeat.

“The decision was strange and difficult to take but that’s what you have to do in such difficult circumstances,” Hayrettin said.

“Yes, overall we should have had a draw but full marks to Wrexham in the second half as they were the better side and made good substitutions.

“Our problem was we had several goal scoring chances, particularly in the first half, and failed to take them and in the end paid the price.”

Wrexham boss Dean Keates said he was delighted with his second successive away win adding: “We knew it was always going to be a difficult place to come because they set their stall out well. “We had a difficult first 20 minutes but I am pleased with the way the players responded and they showed a great deal of character in what was a hard game. We had to dig in hard and earn the win and points and we did just that.” The home side had the best possible start with in-form striker Michael Cheek snatching a poacher’s goal in the penalty box in the first minute from a Harry Lee corner. The home fans’ joy was shortlived because three minutes later the visitors broke away and after good work by Izale McLeod saw Ntumba Massanka fire in a low shot past the stranded home keeper Sam Beasant. The Iron certainly had the better of goal scoring chances in the first half but failed to take them, while before the visitors had taken the lead in the second half, what looked like legitimate penalty claims when both Hall-Johnson and Monty Patterson were sent crashing to the ground in the visitors’ area. Referee Bromley refused to budge, however, and waved play on. Once in front and the controversial goal disallowed the visitors easily saw out the last 15 minutes or so with manager Keates sensibly using all his substitutes to bring fresh legs and see the game out.