Braintree were starting a new era after the departure of the hugely successful Alan Devonshire over the previous four season, establishing a modest Essex side as a mainstay in the division. The man to follow his footsteps was a young and rather unknown manager in Danny Cowley, who has a moderate success at Concord Rangers in the division below after winning promotion with them. He brought in a couple of players from his former club in Alex Woodyard and Matt Fry but overall the nucleus of the superbly drilled and well-oiled side was kept around for the new season. Braintree soon started to show their mettle and determination as they held a top side like Tranmere to a decent draw early on and then won their next three games in a row to move up the table. They were using the pace and trickery of Simon Akinola to a good effect in attack while he was complemented well by Michael Cheek, who settled nicely after joining in the summer from the division below. The results remained pretty impressive over the course of the autumn and the Iron were in and around the play-off spots, punching well above their weight given the level of opposition and showing plenty of spirit and organisation. They consistency of the team was almost staggering as they lost merely twice in 16 games from October to late December and were regularly getting some good wins along the way, as Tranmere were actually defeated on the road. A month-long wait for a game due to poor weather in January did not halt their momentum and the Iron were still very much in the race for the play-off places. Cowley was getting fine performances from every player and the results remained really good, as Wrexham, Chester and Welling were all beaten in the first three games after that enforced break. As implausible as it seemed. Braintree were very much in the race for the play-offs and their belief was growing with every new win they got. They went on another run of eight games unbeaten after a rare slip against Boreham Wood as leaders Cheltenham and a top side like Eastleigh were down, and a play-off spot looked theirs to take with the final stretch in sight. But their had their poor run just after Easter as suddenly the Essex side lost three games in a row and looked to have blown their chances. But Cowley inspired the team to a gutsy win away at Grimsby to move back into the top five. Three more wins in the final three games, including a hugely valuable success at Wrexham, proved enough and one of the best achievements at this level in many a year was completed as Braintree finished third in the league standings. Cowley’s enthusiasm and acumen was the key to success as he convinced the players to follow his guidance and the results were there to be seen. Braintree were aiming to go all the way in the play-offs and a narrow win at Grimsby put them in a good position to actually reach the play-offs. But the quality of Grimsby proved too much in the second leg and edged the tie after a 2:0 extra-time win. That proved the end of the road for Braintree but they have done their club extremely proud. Cowley was the man who made it all possible by taking this team to the next level but he will not be around to continue his work for next season, having accepted the offer of what is a much more renowned club like Lincoln. Jamie Day is the man to replace him and Braintree have certainly made another good decision in going for him as the man to keep the club progressing.
