National League Aldershot 2 Braintree Town 0 The Iron were relegated from the National League after six seasons after this final day defeat - their seventh in their final eight games - with the home side comfortably winning and earning themselves a play-off place.

East Anglian Daily Times: Braintree players commiserate with fans after their relegationBraintree players commiserate with fans after their relegation (Image: Archant)

Ironically exactly a year ago to the day it was the Iron winning a play-off place but this season it has been totally the opposite, having a squad of players clearly not good enough for this level.

Manager Hakan Heyrettin said after this defeat he would “probably like to stay on” and rebuild a new side and added: “Nobody likes losing or getting relegated but if I am given the opportunity for next season then I would certainly make lots of changes on the pitch.

“When I turned up the team had only nine points on the board and nine or ten players on contract I couldn’t shift them or move them out,” he continued. “I have tried to use my contacts to bring players in but it has been difficult.”

He added: “A few supporters showed their anger at the end of the game blaming me for relegation but that’s normal and yet it’s been a constant struggle because of the situation I inherited.”

Heyrettin said he would be meeting the board this coming week to make any decision on whether or not he stayed at the club.

One of the major problems for the Iron this season has been due to a persistently poor defence that’s conceded 75 goals compared to just 38 goals the previous season.

Again in this final game it was defending that let the side down, conceding two quick goals early in the second half – a common trait this season – that effectively ended any hopes of Iron avoiding relegation.

They came on 55 minutes when slack marking allowed Will Evans to open the scoring with a bullet header and four minutes later ex-Iron player Bernard Mensah scored with ease to set up the home win.

Iron supporters will have noticed that the team taking their place in the National League is Maidenhead, who won the Conference South title under the guidance of Alan Devonshire, who led the Iron successfully in their first three seasons at National League level and currently has nine ex-Iron players in his championship winning squad.