Back At It - Braintree Town vs. Ipswich Town

Football makes it's return at Cressing Road

After the glorious highs and crushing lows of The World Cup, it was great to get back to watching live football. I had intended to watch Sheppy United the week before but as England were playing Sweden I had delay my return to action by a week. My debut for the season was Braintree Town against Ipswich Town. This was the start of a new era for both sides with Braintree returning to The Conference National following their dramatic play off win over Hampton and Richmond Borough. As for Ipswich, they had a new manager in Paul Hurst following the departure of Mick McCarthy last season. This was my second visit to Cressing Road, I first visited seven years ago for a Confernce South match with Dorchester. 

Braintree defending the clubhouse end

This game was now a couple of weeks ago so my memory is a little patchy. What I do remember is that both the first team in the opening period and the under 23s in the second, struggled against Braintree and conceded a goal in each half. The first goal was lashed in from the edge of the area before a free kick was impressively dispatched into the top corner.

A rare Ipswich sight of goal

The closest station to Cressing Road is Braintree Freeport but it is worth staying on one extra stop to the main town station if you want pre match drinks. Trains depart from Liverpool Street and take just over an hour. Right in the town centre is The Bull which had a good choice of drinks and a decent outside area. The White Hart Hotel also had some decent choice and was quite a nice setting. Cressing Road is then about twenty minutes walk away. The Iron Bar at the ground thankfully has a bit more character than it's Glanford Park equivalent and had a good choice of lagers.

Covered terrace opposite the main stand

The Other Iron - Braintree Town vs. Dorchester Town

Kick off at Cressing Road.

Following on from the recent theme of seeing teams with similar names, I visited a team that shares their nickname with my beloved Scunthorpe United. Braintree are having a much better season then their North Lincolnshire counterparts. They have been at the top of the Blue Square South for a large period of this season. Following Farnborough's win at Boreham Wood in midweek, their lead at the top of the table has been reduced to one point.Dorchester aren't definitely safe at the start of the game and will be looking for a win to pull away from the relegation places.

The main stand.

Braintree have most of the ball at the start of the game and look like a team who have been top of the league for a long period. The visiting keeper makes a great save to keep his side on level terms, but there is little he can do about the opening goal. Following a flowing counter attack the ball is volleyed home by the Braintree striker. The away keeper makes another save soon afterwards and the hosts are in complete control. Dorchester finally get a decent chance, but the Dorchester player fails to hit the target when he has a free header at the back post.

Covered standing behind one goal.

The hosts have two chances to extended their lead immediately after half time. Both times the Braintree player is foiled by the goalie when clean through. The rest of the second half is a major non event. Both teams fail to create anything and this is epitomised when Dorchester put a free kick from just outside the area, out of the ground. As with the other Iron, Braintree are made to pay for not making their earlier dominance count. A quick break sees the Dorchester striker played through on the far side and he fires past the keeper. Braintree fail to do anything in injury time and the points are shared.

Braintree on the attack in the second half.

The ground is ten minutes walk from Braintree Freeport station. For this route I took a path and cut across a football pitch and so this may not be suitable if it's dark or raining. If you stick to the roads it'll take a little longer. Trains for this station depart from Liverpool Street every hour and the journey takes about an hour. Because the station is a little bit out of town, I didn't see any pubs on my brief walk to the ground. The Iron Bar is a decent size and has Sky Sports.

Uncovered standing behind the other goal.