Braintree Town triumph at Truro in National League South

A vastly improved second-half performance saw the Iron come home from their longest away journey of the year with deservedly all three points at Bolitho Park, Plymouth.

They had to not only overcome a quite physical home side but also play on a rain sodden and muddy pitch.

Truro currently ground share with Plymouth Parkway FC and two hours before the kick-off it was still uncertain whether to start the game because of the surface, until both respective managers said they wanted it played.

It meant both sides struggled to put in any really constructive or entertaining football certainly in an evenly contested first half.

But the second half was different in that the Iron finally came to grips better with the conditions and had the upper hand, dominating play and deservedly score two goals and they could have had more.

Nine minutes from the end, Truro pulled a goal back much against the run of play so the Iron had to weather a late rally to keep their lead.

Every player played a vital part, none more so than the central defending duo of Joe Grimwood and Ben Tomkins, who were outstanding all afternoon.

Iron boss Angelo Harrop was full of praise for the pair and also all the players who put in such a hard working shift.

He said: "Yes, we've played better and lost but it's getting results like this that are so vitally important and I'm delighted we held on and won.

"In the end our players were putting their bodies on the line when it mattered and I felt when we went 2-0 we were comfortable but once they got a late goal back we knew they would throw everything forward but we rightly held on.

"But I always felt even in those last few frantic minutes we would keep our cool which we did.

"Young Jayden Davis did really well coming on as a substitute and scoring what was a somewhat fortunate goal the way it ended up in the net but you have take these slices of luck when they come along."

It was certainly a remarkable debut for the Crawley Town youngster coming on as a 58th-minute substitute, being booked on 64 minutes for kicking the ball away, scoring his goal 30 seconds later and then on 70 minutes jinking his way down to the left byline before crossing a low ball into the diving path of Alfie Pavey who headed the ball into the net.

"I'm glad for Alfie because he was so desperate to score on his return to the club and it showed why we were so keen to get him back on board," added Harrop.

"We deserved the win though and I want to thank the 12 fans who made the 600-plus mile round day trip to the game and gave the players so much support - it shows what this club has on its doorstep."