Braintree Town 2 Nuneaton Town 1

Buoyant Braintree Town powered into the Skrill Conference play-off zone, with another dynamic display at the expense of visiting Nuneaton tonight.

Iron replaced Nuneaton in the fifth and final play-off berth, thanks to an early comical own goal by Theo Streete and a fine solo effort by Dan Holman.

Alan Devonshire’s men have now won seven of their last 11 fixtures, and lost just two of them (both at the hands of Lincoln), since their enforced long lay-off due to the bad weather.

Furthermore, Iron still have a few games in hand over the bulk of their rivals, so their destiny is very much in their own hands for the rest of the season.

They were given a big boost by Streete’s early mishap, on eight minutes. James Mulley whipped over a low cross which Holman just failed to convert, only for left-back Streete to inexplicably turn the ball into his own net.

Ten minutes later and Holman chalked up his 11th goal of the season, and his ninth in his last 12 appearances, to put Iron in the driving seat at 2-0 up.

It was a cracking goal. Holman raced onto Sean Marks’ lay-off and left defenders trailing in his wake, before guiding a low shot past keeper Dale Eve.

Otherwise Braintree, although dominant, fluffed their lines in front of goal and David Hibbert ensured a nervous finale by crashing home an 18-yard shot in the 70th minute.

But Braintree never really looked like conceding a second, and were on the front foot for the rest of the game.