Manager Danny Cowley felt his Braintree Town players lifted their performance to another level in winning the first leg of their Vanarama National League play-off semi-final at Grimsby Town.

The Iron were making club history by appearing in the end-of-term showdown for the first time and a Kenny Davis penalty gave them a 1-0 win at Blundell Park to move a step closer to a Wembley final on May 15.

Cowley was quick to stress that his team are only halfway up the mountain they need to scale to get past the Mariners, but he was proud of his players’ display in the opening 90 minutes of the tie.

“We’re only one-nil up at half-time,” he said.

“That’s all it is and we’re just halfway up the mountain, but we were pleased with our performance.

“I thought our work-rate and pitch coverage was really good, our physicality and our willingness to put our bodies on the line was great and the thing that I was most pleased with was our concentration levels.

“We found a new level in that area and our focus was excellent and that’s great from a manager’s point of view.”

The hosts had the lion’s share of possession during the game, but the Iron showed why they finished the season with the National League’s second best defensive record.

They held off some sustained pressure from Grimsby to have a 24th clean sheet of the campaign and make sure that Davis’ 53rd minute strike from the penalty spot – after Simeon Akinola had been fouled – was enough to win the game.

Cowley added: “Grimsby are a great team and we knew the first 20 minutes would be crucial.

“We managed that period well and we knew if we could do that, the game would get easier for us.

“Grimsby constantly asked questions so we had to be on our guard and had to try to contain them at times but we did that.

“I was really pleased with our performance, particularly without the ball.

“Grimsby have real quality and have goals throughout their team.

“They are a real threat, but we were pleased with how we defended.

“We said at half-time that they had enjoyed possession and territory, but we felt had had the best chances in the game.

“In the second half, they had one or two more chances and there’s no doubt about that.

“Tom King had to make a few good saves when called upon but that is going to happen.

“If Braintree Town are going to beat Grimsby over two legs we are going to have to ride our luck.

“But I was pleased with our performance.”

Cowley also had praise for the 82 Braintree fans who made the trip to Grimsby, with some having to overcome the setback of their coaching breaking down on the way, as they made themselves heard against the home support of 5,189.

The Iron boss said: “It was a fantastic atmosphere and credit to Grimsby as they really got behind their team.

“It made for a great game, but I thought our supporters were unbelievable.

“We were outnumbered about one to 80 and I know they had a tough time getting to the ground with the coach breaking down, so credit to them.

“They certainly added to the atmosphere and kept our boys going.”