BRAINTREE TOWN 2 IPSWICH TOWN 0

Pre-season friendly

Braintree Town sizzled in the heat as they proved too hot to handle for Championship side Ipswich Town.

It was manager Paul Hurst’s first game in charge of the Blues after taking the reins at Portman Road following the departure of Mick McCarthy at the end of last season.

But the Iron ensured there would be no happy opening as an impressive display at both ends of the pitch was capped by two strikes from former Crawley Town midfielder Aryan Tajbakhsh in a 2-0 victory.

It meant the home fans among a good-sized crowd of 581 were sent home with good reason to be optimistic for the campaign ahead.

In searing heat, they showed strength in attack and defence against a side operating three levels above them in the footballing pyramid and gave plenty for their fans to be encouraged by.

With it being their first proper pre-season run-out under their new manager, Ipswich fielded a strong-looking side at the start, with only a couple of absentees from their first-team squad who had been on duty at the World Cup.

It ensured Braintree would be given a good test after they had faced another Football League side a few days earlier when they were beaten 5-0 by League Two side Colchester United.

There were few signs of nerves from the Braintree players, though.

They were penned in at times in the opening minutes by the visitors, but always looked confident on the ball and were prepared to play out from the back rather than lump the ball long into safer areas.

Once they did break out, though, they began posing problems for the Blues’ defence.

A warning shot was delivered when a through ball to Christie Pattison saw the Iron man race clear and he was only denied by a superb fingertip save from former Colchester United keeper Dean Gerken.

From the ensuing corner, Olu Durojaiye got ahead of marker Josh Emmanuel and the Braintree man's shot skimmed the top of the bar.

The Iron were soon ahead, though, with the lead coming on 13 minutes after the ball had broken high up the pitch for Aryan Tajbakhsh, who advances and calmly tucked the ball into the corner of the goal past Gerken.

With the goal behind them, the Iron looked to consolidate their lead and they stayed on the front foot.

A free-kick by Tajbakhsh in a wide left position was floated to the back post where Michael Clark headed just over and a great through ball allowed Christie Pattison to square it to where Grant Ward had to shovel the ball over his own crossbar.

From the resulting corner, Gerken saved well from Josh Hill's powerful header as the hosts stayed on top.

They then had a gilt-edged chance on 33 minutes when great work by Pattison down the left ended with him drilling the ball across the face of goal where Dan Thompson somehow steered the ball wide of the target.

It should have been a two-goal lead, but Ipswich’s attacking threat stayed lacking as they struggled to get any joy from a tight Iron defence.

The best chance for the Blues came after Jordan Roberts got clear on the left and pulled the ball square to where Martyn Waghorn was waiting just outside the box and his shot flew just wide of the target.

It meant the score stayed at 1-0 to Braintree at half-time.

The Iron made just one change at the break, with Joe Ellul replacing Clark in the centre of the back line and while the hosts still looked solid in defence, Ipswich had more threat going forward in the early minutes of the second half.

It took a great save from Nathan McDonald to preserve the lead on 56 minutes when Jordan Roberts got clear of the Iron back line and drilled in a low effort that the Iron custodian did well to keep out.

With the visitors unable to take their chances, it fell to Braintree to trouble the scoresheet next and it was spectacular when they did on 64 minutes.

After Waghorn had fouled Marcel Barrington in a dangerous position just outside the Ipswich penalty area, Tajbakhsh stepped up and curled the ball around the wall and inside the post past the despairing dive of Gerken.

It was a wonderful strike that was worthy of an impressive performance from the 27-year-old former Crawley Town midfielder.

With Tajbakhsh off the pitch, free-kick duties fell to Ben Wyatt as the Iron got another threatening set piece on 86 minutes and while his delivery was also strong, Gerken made enough ground to just about claw the ball away this time.

And Mahrez Bettache got in on the act a minute later when he also tested the Blues keeper from a centrally-placed free-kick just outside the box, but Gerken did his job well again as the lead stayed at two goals.

That was the way it ended as well as the Iron put in a very impressive display in front of their own fans.

Braintree Town: Nathan McDonald, Jon Muleba, Ben Wyatt, Olu Durjaiye, Josh Hill, Michael Clark, Marcel Barrington, Billy Crook, Dan Thompson, Aryan Tajbakhsh, Christie Pattison.

Substitutes: Reece Grant, Irintl Rapai, Edwin Mensah, Joe Ellul, Mahrez Bettache, Christian Frimpong, Charley Barker.

Ipswich Town: Dean Gerken, Josh Emmanuel, Jordan Spence, Luke Chambers, Myles Kenlock, Cole Skuse, Flynn Downes, Grant Ward, Freddie Sears, Martyn Waghorn, Jordan Roberts.

Substitutes: Harry Wright, Barrie Cotter, Pat Webber, Luke Wolfenden, Corrie Ndaba, Brett McGavin, Trystan Nydam, Andre Dozzell, Ben Folami, Conor McKendry, Aaron Drinan.