There was never much doubt that big spending Aldershot would carry too many guns for a Braintree side considerably under strength on Saturday.

In what proved to be a somewhat one-sided contest, Iron nevertheless came through with much credit despite the odds being heavily stacked against them.

On the one hand, Aldershot were able to add to their already star-studded side by parading new £20,000 signing, Grant Payne, for his home debut after scoring seven times in his first two games since joining from Woking.

Braintree however were without Milton, Hunter, Keen, Polston and Adams, while into the team for the first time came former Heybridge Swifts defender, Tony English and the lesser known Nick Nunn.

The latter was withdrawn at half-time but English showed glimpses of his class in spite of lack of recent match practice and should add considerable experience to the squad.

Faced by a massive crowd at the Recreation Ground (officially put at 1878) Braintree had a daunting prospect in view but made a spirited start with Ian Brown testing the home defence with a couple of early runs while Robbie Reinelt got in a powerful near miss on his return to the ground where his career began.

But the inevitable happened in the 16th minute when, after several initial sorties, Aldershot opened their account when a cross from Colin Fielder was headed in at the far post by prolific striker, Gary Abbott, for his 61st goal in 71 games for the 'Shots'.

However, this was not to be the signal for another goal glut and Braintree's comparatively inexperienced young side responded magnificently with some dogged resistance.

Although Aldershot enjoyed the bulk of the possession in midfield they were unable to turn that superiority into goals and Braintree reached the half-way stage still only one goal in arrears.

After the break, Iron reappeared with Scott Forbes replacing Nunn and soon afterwards veteran Trevor Gunn was introduced to take over from the youngster, Ben Woolnough, who seemed overawed in such company.

These changes gave the side fresh impetus but only for a few minutes until Forbes rather rashly reacted to a hard tackle from Owen Coll and was sent off for retaliation to leave Iron facing the last half hour with only ten men.

It was at this stage that Nicky Rust came to the rescue with a number of good saves as Aldershot stepped up their pressure still further.

At the other end Reinelt almost pulled off the impossible by only just missing out for an equaliser with a lob after his free kick had been blocked.

But the long overdue second Aldershot goal came in the 81st minute when Brown lost possession in a vital area to allow Richard Gell to draw Rust off his line to go round the goalkeeper and slot the ball into an unguarded net.

Three minutes from the end the result was put beyond any doubt when Payne scored the third goal to the delight of the chanting home fans.

But Braintree still refused to submit and gained some consideration for a plucky display when Reinelt scored from a penalty in the last minute.

Braintree Town: Rust, Nunn (Forbes), Cowan, Woolnough (Gunn), Brett (Perkins), Reinelt, Philp, Brown, Owen, Smith and English.

Saturday Braintree visit Leatherhead for a Ryman League Division One encounter.

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