Braintree had marvellous season this year as they beat their points tally record from previous year and shows great strength and endurance to recover from a very tough first half of the season. The main worry for Alan Devonshire in the summer was to make sure that his side do not become the victim of the second-season syndrome after exceeding all expectations to finish so high in the previous campaign. The core of the squad was mostly the same with Dan Holman coming in as replacement for Ben Wright who joined Forest Green. Danny Naisbitt also arrived as a new signing on goal but in general it was the same squad that competed so well the previous campaign. Yet, things were off to a rather mixed start of the campaign with some generally good displays being followed by ones lacking in both desire and any resilience. The team was still steering clear of the drop zone going to late September and claimed a surprising win away at Luton in October but consistency and defensive frailty remained apparent and a concerning drop in performances in November saw the team start to slide down the danger zone and they were suddenly struggling badly as Grimsby, Lincoln and Wrexham all enjoyed comfortable wins against the Iron. The 5:1 loss against Wrexham was a really dreadful performance with the players admitting that they were not up to the job. Alan Devonshire seemed to be struggling to cope with the so called second-season syndrome but he stopped the rot with great wins against Southport and Forest Green in December. The defeats against Cambridge during the festive period were hardly a setback as there was a feeling that the team was starting to settle and good results continued to come in the early weeks of 2013 as direct rivals Tamworth and Nuneaton were both beaten away from home. Braintree were now on an upward trajectory and showed few signs of stopping in February when they claimed the scalps of both Luton and Grimsby at home and actually claimed four wins in a row during this period. By March, safety was basically certain and the players were able to take their foot off the gas and enjoy the rest of the season. They had a very busy last month and a half and played a lot of games but still put some good performance and actually defeated future champions Mansfield 2:1 just a week before the end of the season. At the end, Braintree managed to have an even better season than last year and their achievement is actually much more impressive as they had a very tough campaign and at times had to roll their sleeves and play with real character and determination.
