BRAINTREE TOWN 0 SOLIHULL MOORS 3

Vanarama National League

Braintree Town were blown away by a blitz after the break to ensure they got no Vanarama National League return from manager Hakan Hayrettin’s first game back in charge as permanent boss.

The game was a lunchtime kick-off on Saturday as it was being screened live on television, but the hosts were unable to shine brightly during their time on the small screen and lost 3-0.

Braintree had taken seven points from four games during Hayrettin’s caretaker period at the helm and were looking to impress for the first game of his second spell in permanent charge.

But Solihull had lost just one of their last ten league games and came into the game clearly oozing confidence.

The Iron were given sufficient warning in the first half about Solihull’s quick-starting as they had to fend off an early onslaught from the West Midlanders.

However, it was a warning they didn’t heed after the half-time interval as a goal within 30 seconds of the restart, followed by two more before the hour mark saw them blown away by their buoyant visitors.

There were three changes for the Iron from the side that started the 1-0 defeat at Aldershot Town two weeks ago.

They saw George Legg coming in for a first Iron start in goal after the young keeper joined on loan from Championship side Reading the previous day and he came in to replace Ashlee Jones

There were also starts for Luke Allen and Christie Pattison after loanee Cameron James had headed back to his parent club Colchester United in the week and Reece Grant was not included in the matchday squad.

There were also a couple of interesting additions on the Braintree substitutes’ bench, with Billy Crook returning after a couple of months out with a knee injury and striker Norman Wabo was included after joining on loan from Southend United.

Wabo was one of four new players that Hayrettin had brought in the day before the game.

Aside from the loan signings of Wabo and new goalkeeper Legg, centre-half Taylor Curran also joined on loan from Southend and Hayrettin had also brought in 23-year-old defender Ejiro Okosieme, who joined from fellow National League side Dover Athletic.

And one of the Iron’s new additions found himself heavily involved in the early part of the game.

It was clear that high-flying Solihill were a team full of confidence and they pressed from the first whistle to make it a busy first five minutes for Legg and the Iron defence as the ball was hardly out of their half.

And the chances for Solihill weren’t long in coming.

The first was when a shot was fired in from outside the box and Legg made a block only for the loose ball to spin up invitingly for Danny Wright.

However, the Solihull winger inexplicably headed over from inside the six yard box under no pressure at all.

It was a let off for the hosts and Legg was soon back in action when a long ball in from the right was met by head of Liam Daly and the Iron keeper had to get down well to make the claim.

Jamey Osbourne then lashed a shot over the bar and Daly had a fierce shot deflected behind for a corner as the pressure continued.

Crucially, though, Solihull were unable to score in that frantic opening spell and Braintree gradually settled into the match.

They finally put together some forward play and Christie Pattison’s ball across the Moors area skewed across the face of the goal before a clearance could be made and Justin Amaluzor then headed just wide from a corner.

Those chances seemed to settle the Iron down and the play became a lot more even as they saw better possession.

They went close on 29 minutes when a free-kick on the right was fired into the box by Jon Muleba and headed on by Joe Ellul.

Amaluzor was quick to latch on to the spinning ball but could only scoop it over the bar under pressure from the onrushing Moors keeper Ryan Boot.

It was encouraging from the home side, but they were thankful to Legg once again on 33 minutes when superb work from the Iron's new on-loan keeper kept it goalless.

It came after the ball was lifted over the back line and Adi Yussuf skipped away to go one-on-one, but Legg made himself big and made the save once again.

It ensured the game stayed goalless at half-time, but it didn’t stay that way for long after the restart.

Braintree had been alerted in the first half that Solihull were likely to come out of the blocks quickly, but it was a warning they failed to heed.

There were less than 30 seconds of the second half gone and after an innocuous-looking ball across the Iron area caught the home defence flat-footed, Danny Wright slid the ball past Legg to put the visitors ahead.

If there was a mountain that needed to be climbed for the Iron after that blow, it looked positively vertigo-inducing less than seven minutes later when Solihull got a second goal.

Osbourne surged into the Iron box from the right and referee Alan Dale pointed for a penalty after he was upended, with Yussuf doing the honours from the spot to double the advantage.

And that was extended further just before the hour mark.

From a free-kick being fired into the Moors area, the ball came out to Yussuf, who turned it on and Matt Stenson raced clear before tucking the ball neatly into the net.

There were appeals from Braintree of a handball in the build-up to the goal, but it stood to confirm that the points were heading back to the West Midlands.

The rest of the game saw Braintree huffing and puffing as they tried to get some reward for their efforts but the game was gone and Solihull eased over the line.

Braintree Town: George Legg, Jon Muleba, Luke Allen, Christie Pattison (Norman Wabo 70), Lyle Della-Verde (Billy Crook 61), Kodi Lyons-Foster, Joe Ellul, Ricky Gabriel, Mo Sagaf, Justin Amaluzor (Dan Thompson 66), Virgil Gomis.

Subs not used: Dave Nieskens, Jake Cass.

Referee: Alan Dale.