Too much steel for Iron (13.09.03)

IF Braintree were looking for positives to take home from Saturday’s humbling at York Road, the final scoreline would feature right at the top of the list.
The simple truth is, they were lucky to get off so lightly.
Not that United played particularly well. They just played with a lot more nerve and verve than usual.
And, if they can carry this confidence forwards into the season, it is only a matter of time before they give someone a really serious spanking.
The game was put beyond the Iron in the first five minutes.
Brendon Gallen was credited with the opening goal on two minutes, although most agreed the hapless keeper had palmed the ball into his own net from a free-kick.
But there was no disputing the second, as Martyn Lee smacked a sublime 25 yard screamer into the top left-hand corner from another set piece.
Iron’s midfielder Dean Parratt was left shame faced, having given away both free-kicks.
Lawrence Yaku should have made it 3-0 on 12 minutes, and on 27 minutes, and again on 34 minutes.
However, the wayward striker finally made amends with five minutes of the half remaining, when he was put clear by Phil Gray and deftly dinked the ball over the onrushing keeper.
Having earned a booking in the dying minutes of the first half, Mark Boyce found himself dispatched to the changing rooms five minutes after the restart, for the very silly offence of preventing Braintree from taking a quick free-kick.
However, the visitors had been well and truly buried by then, with Gray heading home United’s fourth goal from Brendon Gallen’s perfectly flighted free-kick on 49 minutes .
Even with 10 men, the Magpies were still more than a match for Braintree, although the referee obviously thought otherwise and dismissed the bustling Andy Purcell to even up the numbers.
Reduced to 10-a-side, the game began to peter out, with most of the chances being created on the break.
Unfortunately, most of these fell to Yaku, who seems to be lacking in confidence at the moment and passed up a golden opportunity for a memorable hat-trick.

CHIPPER: Lively Lawrence Yaku lifts the ball over Braintree keeper Paul Rutherford to make it 3-0 at York Road on Saturday. Picture by Mike Swift

Maidenhead United: Hart, Sanders, Connor, Ashe, Jennings, Gallen, Boyce, Gray, Yaku, Lee, Farley. Subs: Durrant, Christopher (for Jennings, 55), Paxton, Currie, Wilson.
Braintree Town: Rutherford, Smith, Jones, Blackwell, Purcell, Williams, Mooniaruck, Parratt, Hammond, Cranfield, Duckett. Subs: Culverhouse, Franklin, Harvey (for Williams, 70), Hayter, Cherry.