After being defeated rather unluckily by a quick Staines team, plus some rather dubious decisions (to say the least) by the officials, Hampton braved the Bank Holiday traffic to take on Braintree Town at Cressing Road. The previous meetings had seen two draws and THAT Cup game at the Beveree which Marcello will remember well!

After being held up at the Dartford crossing and delaying the teams arrival until about 2-15, Hampton lined up in an unusual strip (well for my eyes) of sky blue shirts, dark blue shorts and red socks, facing a Braintree team that was looking to get into the playoff places before the start of play.

After a quiet start, the Beavers had the first real chance after 9 minutes. Dave Tarpey made a run down the left flank, but his cross was a little too long for Craig Dundas, who had to chase, turn and then get the shot off. Desperate blocks kept the first shot and the followup shot away from goal before it was cleared. A resulting corner was a little high for Dave Tarpey, whose header flew over.

Braintree came back into the game a little at this point but a counter attack by Dave Tarpey, again down the left, had the Braintree defence scrambling to get back. Once again his cross was a little too strong for Craig Dundas and the chance went begging.

Braintree’s first real chance came on 21 minutes after a cross went right across the Hampton goal and Peters screwed the shot wide of Matt Lovett’s left post.

However Hampton finally made use of a chance and it came somewhat out of the blue. A cross came over from the Hampton right and after the ball bounced around the box in a scramble, Karl Beckford made use of his right foot to sweetly crash home a 20 yard half-volley which Braintree’s keeper Holloway had no chance of reaching. Not a bad way to score your first goal for the club! At this point, I felt that the Beavers had had slightly more of the play and probably deserved the lead.

After an immediate Braintree substitution, Hampton settled into the game and for the rest of the half, looked to have Braintree at arm’s length. However, referee Fitch angered the home fans by refusing to stop the game for an injury to Braintree’s Quinton, who looked to have had Craig Tanner’s fingers somewhere around his mouth in a challenge. From my position at the back of the main stand, there looked to be only minimal contact and certainly not enough to warrant the player laying on the ground for a whole minute waiting for the play to be stopped.

The half ended with a Beckford half-chance going wide

HT 0-1

From the restart, Braintree looked like they’d had Red Bull and coffee as they came out much the better side. However on 48 minutes, Craig Dundas finally became the first entry in the ref’s book for a late striker’s challenge on Braintree’s Rhodes. From the free kick, a Purcell snapshot was held well by Matt Lovett.

Braintree was making more of their possession but the Beavers weren’t out of it. After Nathan Collier ballooned a shot over the bar on 52 minutes, Hampton had a free kick from a foul on Craig Dundas, earning Braintree’s Goodacre a yellow card, but it was wasted with a weak header over the bar.

By this time the fog was descending on Cressing Road and it was getting hard to see the other side of the pitch, and if it got any thicker, there was a real danger the referee might consider it too bad to continue.

Braintree was clearly now controlling the possession, and they looked like they might score at anytime, however their chances were few. On 63 minutes a cross from Harris had to be forced behind and Matt Lovett had to be smart to clear the ball to safety.

Craig Dundas was leading the line well even at this stage, and had to take some punishment as the Iron struggled to hold him, however the Beavers couldn’t make use of the free kicks he was getting.

On 72 Quinton was unlucky to slide a free kick just past Matt Lovett’s post and you could sense that there was more to happen in this game and it might not be to the Beavers. After a late challenge by Marcello Fernandes on Quinton, which wasn’t pretty, Braintree switched the ball to the right and after another mad scramble in the box, Mike Power slotted the ball past Matt Lovett easily, being unmarked at the edge of the 6 yd box.

Braintree now sensed there might be three points in this for them and increased the pressure. After 80 mins Power shot wide after a neat build up and you feared for the Hampton goal if this was kept up. But pressure was all there was and as the minutes frostily ticked down without Braintree seriously challenging Matt Lovett, perhaps a point was on the cards. On 88 minutes, Craig Tanner missed a header which allowed Braintree to attack down the left but the cross was too close to Matt Lovett to be of any threat.

A minute later, Marcello Fernandes had a chance from a free kick some 30 yards out, it was well struck but didn’t dip enough to clip the cross bar as it narrowly went over.

Well into injury time, Braintree broke forward and threatened the Hampton goal, but a clumsy challenge by OJ made the ref instantly give a yellow card and a free kick a couple of yards outside the area. A seven man wall lined up to repel the free kick, but Purcell found a way through with a powerful shot and Matt Lovett had to throw himself acrobatically to his left to tip the ball over.

Braintree threw nearly everyone forward for the resulting corners, but a presumed nudge on a Hampton player in the melee meant a free kick, after which the ref blew for time and the Beavers travelling support could breathe again (and thaw out)…

At last a complete 90 minute performance and on balance, a point was probably the fairest result, which was probably of more value to Dev than his Braintree counterpart.