BRAINTREE TOWN 0 MACCLESFIELD TOWN 1

Vanarama Conference Premier

It was a case of same again for Braintree Town as they lost their fourth Vanarama Conference Premier game in a row.

Just as they had done while on the road at FC Halifax Town, Bristol Rovers and Grimsby Town in their previous three games, Braintree performed well enough to get something from the encounter, but lost out by a single-goal margin.

This time it was another promotion-chasing side who denied them with Macclesfield taking the three points thanks to Alex Grant’s lone strike in the first half.

Braintree made two changes from the side that started the defeat at Grimsby on Saturday with those dropping out being the suspended Chez Isaac and James Mulley, who was out with a groin problem.

In their place, Matt Paine returned from a one-match ban and Ryan Peters was in again after a back injury, but came in on the right side of midfield rather than the full-back berth he is more commonly associated with.

It was an encouraging start by Braintree as they showed no hangover from their tough run on the road.

They pushed Macclesfield back in the early stages, with Sean Marks heading just wide and Matt Paine firing across goal from a corner.

Simeon Akinola, who was being watched by a scout for Reading and MK Dons, looked the most likely to unlock the Macclesfield defence, however, clear-cut chances were scarce in the opening half hour.

It meant Macclesfield keeper Rhys Taylor had little to do, while at the other end Nick Hamann was equally untroubled by meaningful efforts on goal.

The closest the Iron came to opening the scoring was in the 30th minute when a ball into the feet of Akinola on the edge of the box saw him open his body and curl a shot in that flashed just wide of the target.

However, having enjoyed the majority of the possession, Braintree were then hit by a sucker punch before the break.

A free-kick was played into the Iron’s box and after the home defence failed to clear their lines the ball fell to Alex Grant, who had ample time to pick his spot and lash it into the back of the net.

It was a sucker punch for the hosts to concede and meant they trailed at the break.

After a quiet few minutes after the restart, Braintree began to pressurise again.

In the 56th minute, the ball fell to Dan Sparkes about 20 yards out in a central position and his driven shot was sweetly hit, but it was straight at Taylor, who was able to make a sharp save and then grab the loose ball.

They followed that with a good effort by Kenny Davis that flew just wide of the target and then Mitch Brundle brought a good save out of Taylor from a free-kick just before the hour mark.

Braintree stayed on top, but they almost fell to another sucker punch when they failed to clear their lines, however, a goal mouth scramble eventually ended with the ball being hacked away with the visitors unable to capitalise on the opportunity.

The Iron quickly returned to the offence as they looked for a way back into the game, however, clear-cut chances remained elusive.

The closest they went was from a free-kick by Brundle that was dipping under the bar with seven minutes to go and Taylor just tipped it over.

From the resulting corner, Kenny Davis poked the ball towards goal and it was going in until Chris Holroyd blocked it on the line to preserve the Silkmen’s lead.

That was the last real chance on goal for the hosts and their losing run was extended to four games.