BRAINTREE Town booked their place in the FA Cup first round for the first time in eight years after beating neighbours Bishop's Stortford 1-0 in the fourth qualifying round, writes DAVID WARD.

It was a tightly-fought contest at the Rare Breed Meat Stadium, as Iron edged past their Southern League opponents.

The truth is that although a busy and workmanlike Stortford created potential problems for the Iron rearguard, at times they were were let down by poor finishing, whilst the Iron defence put in a dominant and well controlled performance.

Apart from a general sense of relief at the final whistle from the Iron fans in the 1,258 crowd (there were 412 away fans), the stark reality is that their wafer-thin quad was decimated before the game forcing manager Angelo Harrop to name just two substitutes - John Akinde and club coach, Michael Brothers.

Louie Annesley and Jermain Francis were away on international duty with Gibraltar and Grenada respectively, with injuries and two players being cup tied adding to the problems.

Harrop said: "It' been a complete nightmare and I'm just so pleased to have got a full side out for the start of the game even though a couple of players had knocks and wouldn't normally have been considered for selection.

(Image: JON WEAVER)

"So overall I am absolutely delighted for the players and also the fantastic fans who were totally behind us from the start and that does mean so much to everyone involved on the playing side.

"We knew it would be a really hard game because it's a local derby and for the opposition it's really their cup final and to their credit I thought they played exceptionally well on the day.

"To be honest I was not worried how we played I just wanted us to get a goal, win this game and get the club into the first proper draw on Monday evening.

"I thought we did really well playing hard and players fully committed to the game to ensure we would make it into the next round."

"I never thought I would have to put out a restricted side in such an important one for the club with the financial rewards available so it was always a case of getting us over the line.

(Image: JON WEAVER)

"After a fairly even first half I felt we grew more into the game in the second period and with a little bit of patience and consistency when going forward we could and should have found the net again because with just one goal in it you're always a risk they could break away and snatch an equaliser.

"But I think our defence was outstanding today and I'm so pleased we again kept a clean sheet at home."

Braintree's all-important winner came in the sixth minute when the busy Kyrell Lisbie worked his way down the right and crossed to the far post where the loose ball was stabbed into the net from close range at the second attempt by Inih Effiong.

This gave an early boost to the Iron players' confidence and it showed, as they repeatedly surged forward and threatened the visitors' goal again.

(Image: JON WEAVER)

The Iron were certainly more assertive in the second half than their visitors, who seemed to run out of both steam and ideas in attack the longer the game continued.

Harrop added: "I would obviously like a home draw so our fans can enjoy the occasion but I'm not too worried because at least by the time that game comes round, we will have players both back from abroad and injured players fully recovered."

Next up for Braintree is a visit to Forest Green Rovers on Saturday, kick-off 3pm.