Spirit of Angelo’s Iron keeps dream alive
ANGELO HARROP hailed calm heads as Braintree Town hauled themselves off the ropes after Chelmsford City’s late comeback to land an extra-time knock-out and reach the Promotion Final.
Just four days after going the distance in the Eliminator with Bath City, Harrop’s Iron had to put in another marathon shift.
Leon Davies and Freddie Sears has put them in the box-seat only for Robbie Simpson’s Clarets to hit two in two minutes to force extra-time.
But Jayden Davis’ deflected strike saw the Iron through this pulsating Essex derby with a trip to the winners of Worthing and Maidstone up next.
“The boys got over the line in two big, big games now – real pressure against two good sides,” emotional boss Harrop said. “Beating Bath was a real big achievement. Winning
here – I don’t know how long it is since we’ve won here – but what a performance and what a day.”
The first 45 minutes were as typically edgy as you can expect from a semi-final derby. Dom Odusanya fizzed a shot wide early in the second half before Davies curled in a fine opener on 54 minutes.
A little over ten minutes later it was two, former West Ham and Ipswich striker Sears finishing calmly when through on goal.
City boss Simpson had no choice but to gamble with some attacking subs. George Alexander turned a good chance wide and was denied by keeper Jack Sims, who made two other fine saves soon after, before they grabbed one back when Jermaine Francis turned in a corner on 90 minutes.
Belief flooding through their veins, Alexander headed them level two minutes into stoppage-time.
Simpson admitted his side didn’t want the full-time whistle to come, such was the momentum. But the attacking substitutions, and energy they put in to turn the game around, ultimately became their undoing.
The Clarets couldn’t clear their lines and Davis – who set-up Tom Blackwell’s winner in the week – wriggled into a shooting position to get off an effort that deflected past Dylan Berry.
Braintree could have wrapped it up late on through Aaron Blair but they showed their character after ending the 90 minutes shellshocked.
“Do you really want to know what I said?” Harrop smiled on his extra-time team-talk. “I was very p **** d off. But we couldn’t think like that. We had to re-focus and our management team, I have to give them big credit, there was that calmness and focus.
“As a manager, sometimes you end up a bit like a fan, your passion is there and you’re so desperate to win. You need good people around you. What a team effort.
“I want us to enjoy it — I want the players to enjoy it. We’re going to have one beer now together in a pub. Then we need to rest up and we’ll be training.”
Harrop says they travel with confidence to the final but for Simpson it was a cruel way to end a season that saw them runners-up.
“When you’re tired in play-off games, decisions at key moments matter,” Simpson said. “We’ve made a couple of poor decisions, a couple of poor connections and it’s allowed them to maintain a bit of pressure.
“It was gut-wrenching but we still did believe. We just looked spent at the end there.”