Conference Premier
Braintree Town 2
Nuneaton Town 0
DESPITE achieving their second win of the season thanks to two late second half goals against Nuneaton Town on bank holiday Monday, Iron manager Alan Devonshire expects to sign a new defender this week to help bolster his current squad.
"I am talking to a club below our level about a player and I hope to have him on board later this week," said Devonshire. "I'm looking at players all the time which is part of my job to try and improve what we already have and try and make us stronger."
Although Devonshire declined to reveal his potential signing it's understood that he is a defender currently with a Ryman League Premier Division side.
The Iron may also be in line to lose a player too because keeper Nick Hamann, who had little to do in this win, was watched again by a Luton Town scout who are interested in a possible transfer after he initially impressed against the Hatters in both their games with the Iron last season.
On Monday's victory Devonshire said: "I thought it was a comfortable win for us and we should have won by a bigger margin.
"The conditions made it difficult and it was getting the right result that mattered," he said. "We had several chances in the first half to have wrapped the game up but I tried to take the pressure off the lads by repeatedly telling them at half-time to keep playing as they were, keep working and not to become frustrated.
"It's up to me as manager to take the pressure off the players which I did and they knew they had not played well either in the last two games which we lost and they wanted to work even harder to put it right which they did."
The turning point of the game came in the 73rd minute when the visitors' Ben Hutchinson was shown a straight red card for an over the top tackle on Ryan Peters on the halfway line.
Six minutes later they took the lead with a free-kick just outside the visitors' area after Chez Issac had been fouled.
New signing Mitch Brundle stepped up to fire a great shot around the wall into the net to score his second goal in successive games.
"I have been practising taking free-kicks and I wanted it despite Dan Sparkes saying he would take it," said Brundle. "It was a good position and I drove the ball round the ball into the bottom corner of the net knowing the keeper would never get across to reach it.
"I think it was what we deserved really because I always felt we were the better side and we kept creating the most chances.
"The lads wanted to put right what we've not been doing in the first few games and I believe we are now gelling together more and the gaffer has made it clear what he wants us to do individually.
"I like playing in midfield but I often play at the back too and I don't mind.
"We now need to show more consistency and I think we have a good side here that can go on and do even better than they did last season."
Despite the constant heavy rain during the game the Cressing Road pitch held up well and Brundle felt the improvements made to the playing surface during the summer is paying dividends.
"It's now a brilliant pitch and full credit to the groundsmen who have obviously worked hard during the summer to make it as good as it is particularly with the persistent rain today," he added.
With Brundle forming an impressive partnership in midfield with Kenny Davis the Iron had Dan Walker linking up with Jordan Cox in attack and Remy Clerima returned to the defence.
The Iron certainly created the more chances in the first half with Cox, Walker, Sparkes and Brundle all coming close to scoring and but for the herorics of young Reice Charles-Cook in the visitors' goal, they would have been three or four goals up by the break.
The young stopper, on loan from Coventry City, again kept his side in the game at the start of the second half with a couple more fine saves while at the other Hamann was having a quiet afternoon.
The Iron's patience going forward paid off minutes after the sending off when Brundle neatly struck his free-kick home to give the home side a deserved lead.
A minute before this goal the Iron made a double attacking substitution with Sean Marks coming on for Walker and Michael Bakare on for Cox, both starting strikers had clearly tired in the difficult conditions.
It certainly gave fresh impetus to the attack and three minutes from time Bakare made the game safe for the Iron when he picked up a Hamann long kick up field, cut inside from the right and fired home a great low, left-foot 25-yard shot into the far corner of the net.
It was no more than the Iron deserved on the day and put a smile on Devonshire's face after the disappointing last two defeats.
"I thought the back four did really well and from midfield we created a lot more," he said. "They are mostly young boys who are still learning the game and it takes time to get them to do what I want."
Braintree Town: Hamann; Peters, Massey, Clerima, Habergham; Isaac (Smith 84), Davis, Brundle, Sparks; Cox (Bakare 78), Walker (Marks 78). Unused subs: Maybanks, Pentney.