Braintree can have a justifiable clam to be the biggest overachievers in the division this season having comfortably beaten the drop and stayed up amid expectations that they will be propping up the table all season. The Iron hardly had the perfect preparation to their first season since promotion after title-winning manager Rod Stringer quite amid budget conflict with the chairman. Experienced manager Alan Devonshire was handed the reins and he quickly set about retaining prized assets like Sean Marks, Adam Bailey-Dennis and Jai Reason while adding Ben Wright and Andy Yiadom to the squad. Braintree were unlucky to lose their first game of the season at Darlington but sent real shockwaves around the league in their first home game in the division when they completely destroyed Grimsby for a 5:0 win. The manner of the performance, playing care-free attacking football with the audacity of seasoned campaigners of this level showed how well Devonshire has worked in the weeks before the season to instil belief in the group. Things got even better in September when Braintree won each of their six games in the league, thumping Southport 4:0 away from home. At that point they were sitting in the top three and playing some extremely nice football for this level. Reason was orchestrating in midfield while Wright's presence up front was unsettling more than one or two experienced defences. Inevitably, that purple patch was about to end sooner rather than later and a heavy 6:2 loss at York a few weeks later brought the Iron back to earth. The team kept a clean sheet in five of their six games in September but the defence just collapsed in the weeks to follow as Kidderminster and Forest Green scored five goals apiece to add to that York mauling. Devonshire was not shying from criticising his defence but things did not get too much better as Braintree dropped to mid-table by the end of the calendar year. That was the worst period of their season but the team got their confidence back once the expectations and pressure dropped. They were basically safe from the drop by February and were able to enjoy themselves in mid-table. They mixed the odd superb attacking performance with a shocking one in defence with wins over Cambridge, Gateshead and Luton at home standing out along with comprehensive defeats at home to Kidderminster and away at Wrexham. At the end of the day that was a season of huge overachievement for the tiny Essex club who were not afraid to play their way and achieved their goal in style. It remains to be seen whether the second-season-syndrome will kick in the upcoming campaign.
