Braintree Cricket Club captain Will Jackson was delighted to see his players show the belief they needed to get themselves out of a tight situation and secure an important win against a team who had proved a thorn in their sides last year.

An excellent display in the field saw Braintree bounce back from a disappointing batting performance to seal a nine-run win against their old nemesis Copford in Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship Division One.

Jackson, who returned to the side after more than two months out with a fractured wrist, said: “It was another good win and one where we had to dig ourselves out a bit.

"We had to show fight and belief as we knew we’d let ourselves down with the bat, but we backed ourselves to win it with the ball.

“There were a few negatives with how we batted, but positives with our fielding and the attitude that was shown as it shows the fight is there to get out of tight situations.

“We are unbeaten in four games now and we didn’t want to let that slip.

“It’s a mentality that goes back to last year and I said to the team before we went out into the field that we had done it last year from similar positions and I wanted them to back themselves.

“We knew that if we bowled in the right areas and fielded well, we’d have the intensity to get the win we wanted.

“It was pleasing to do that as that was the type of game that we had targeted to win.

"We lost twice to Copford last year when they were a bit of a bogey team for us, so it was nice to get that one off our backs as well.

“It also pushes us further up the league moving towards the halfway stage and keeps our run going ahead of a game at Coggeshall on Saturday.”

Jackson said Dan Chalk and Josh Newman are likely to be unavailable for the trip to Coggeshall, but Ben Golds is set to return and there could also be a recall for Robbie Spalding after he impressed for Braintree seconds last weekend.

The captain said: “Robbie dropped down into the seconds and did exactly what I asked him to by taking six wickets so it will be good to bring him back in.”