Although there is natural disappointment at not being able to celebrate their centenary season by being one of the three teams promoted to the Premier Division, Braintree can draw considerable satisfaction from finishing in a final fourth position.

This in itself was quite an achievement in view of the problems faced during a difficult campaign especially with the disruption caused by injuries to key players.

As had been the case throughout most of the season Iron had to field an under strength side for their final game at Cressing Road on Saturday, with several first choice players continuing to be sidelined.

So in the circumstances a draw with a useful looking Maidenhead side was a reasonable way to round off a memorable year and gave new manager Richie Powling with some encouraging signs as he prepares his attempt to take Iron up next season.

The game had little of the usual end of season feeling at least in an action packed first half.

Braintree took the lead after 12 minutes when Nicky Smith converted a penalty kick, the award having been made for a handling offence but within five minutes Maidenhead were back on terms.

An accurate free kick gave visiting skipper Tony Cook the opportunity to steal in and catch John Cheesewright out of position with a well placed header.

Only another two minutes had elapsed before Braintree restored their lead following a good move down the left which saw Paul Betson make ground before squaring the ball across for Stef Kendall to volley home.

Play continued in this end to end pattern with both sides producing some promising approach work with further goals always a possibility.

In the event it was Maidenhead who scored again in the 28th minute when their effective running off the ball had the Braintree defence caught off guard.

A quick throw in found Mick Creighton in space and with time to go through to find the target.

Soon afterwards a carbon copy movement saw Creighton gather another long throw but this time his shot came back off the post.

All in all it had been a most entertaining first 45 minutes and really it would have been expecting a bit too much for it to continue at this pace after the break.

Not surprisingly the tempo slackened in the second half with neither side able to get the upper hand.

Few scoring opportunities were created with Braintree going the closest to a winner when Kendall had a couple of good efforts, that just failed to find the target

Braintree Town: Cheesewright, Knight, Tanner, Gunn, Bishop, Betson, Vincent, Smith, McLeod (Rayner), Kendall and Forbes.

FA Representative Mr Gordon Snell presented Russell Tanner with Braintree Town Football Club's Player of the Year Award and Paul Betson received a trophy for the Best Goal of the Season.

In recognition of the club's centenary, Mr Snell also presented special mementos from the Football Association and the Essex County FA with long serving secretary Tom Woodley also receiving an award.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.