BRAINTREE Town manager Ryan Maxwell admitted it was two points lost rather a point gained following his side's 2-2 home draw with relegation rivals Welling United, writes DAVID WARD.

The Iron had to settle for a draw in their feisty National League South encounter at the Dunmow Group Stadium on Tuesday, after surrendering a half-time two-goal advantage to concede two poorly defended second-half goals.

Maxwell said: "I'm really disappointed that having taken a two-goal lead and looking comfortable we then failed to manage the game out.

"The truth is though that a draw was probably a fair result in the end.

"I have to admit we didn't play well and it was poor after our last excellent outing when we won at Hampton and Richmond but that's football.

"We played far better this season and come away without any points.

"When you're not playing particularly well then you will take any point from a game but we must learn to cope with playing out football, continue to work hard and not give the opposition the momentum to come back to us as they did in the second half."

Maxwell still admitted there were many positives to come out of the game yet there's still plenty of room for improvement adding: "We're now scoring goals but it's disappointing to concede the two goals as we did here and not keep a clean sheet.

"I thought we did well for most of the game, defended well when we had to but then at times in that second half we lost our way a little when we should have been stronger and more determined not to concede goals.

"It's hard to take and I've told the players who are naturally disappointed not to have won they must learn and learn quickly because we need wins and get points to push us away from the relegation zone."

Braintree took the lead on 33 minutes when Matthew Johnson charged down a clearance from the visitors forcing the ball into the net.

And one minute into the second half, Iron added a second when Kyran Clements forced the ball over the line in a goalmouth scramble.

But two crucial moments in the game probably denied the Iron outright victory.

The first came a minute after scoring their second goal when Luke Holness found himself completely free on the edge of the United penalty with the ball at his feet, the goalkeeper on the ground only to shoot wide.

The second came seven minutes from time when substitute Eoin McKeown appeared to be blatantly hauled down yards from the visitors' goal line only for referee Jack Packman to refuse the spot kick before showing a yellow card to the Iron man for simulation.

It appeared an incredible mistake that even the visiting skipper admitted was wrong and that they were lucky to get away with.

Welling had pulled themselves back in the game with goals on 62 and 74 minutes, both of which should not have been conceded from the Iron viewpoint.

And late on in the game, Iron keeper Billy Johnson pulled off two fine saves to keep them in the contest.

Next up for the Iron is a trip to Bath City on Saturday with Maxwell confident of having the long-time injured Myles Anderson back in the side.

He said: "We hope he will be fit now and it will be a great asset to the team and I feel we've missed his experience and authority.

"It will be a tough game because Bath are always strong on their own ground but we go there with renewed belief in ourselves.

"I am looking for a repeat performance of the Hampton game and I know after this evening's disappointment the players will want to put it right."