Braintree Town and Concord Rangers did battle in the Essex Senior Cup Final at Victoria Road, Dagenham. Both teams have had good seasons in their respective divisions and Braintree would have gone into this slight favourites seeing they were in a higher division although to be fair this was predicted by many to be a tight match, me included.
Town started the brighter and almost took a 3rd minute lead when James Mulley burst into the box and his shot across Concord keeper Jamie Butler hit the post and bounced out but was cleared before any Town player could score.
Concord's first forray into the Braintree last third came on 10 minutes when Gary Ogilvie burst into the box before going down after tangling with a defender but no penalty was forthcoming, which looked the correct decision.
Concord were getting into the game now after a slow start and on 15 minutes the ball bounced across Town's six yard box causing a little concern but the ball bounced away and out of danger.
Then the breakthrough on 17 minutes. A delightful ball over the top of the Town defence found the run of Sam Collins whose delightful finish past the keeper Nick Hamann gave Rangers a 1-0 lead.
Town tried to respond to this set back and on 21 minutes Daniel Holman swivelled on the edge of the box but hit his effort just wide of the far post. The action then switched straight up the other end and Tony Stokes, Concord's captain, looped a header wide of Town's goal.
There was a hint of desperation in Town's attacking play as they seemed to find it harder than they thought against this tough Concord side and this was in evidence on 40 minutes when Town striker Daniel Holman shot from way out but his effort sailed miles wide and out of the ground near enough.
However Town should of been level bang on half time when a ball into the box produced two efforts on goal, one which was blocked by a Town player in error as he couldn't get out of the way and the other a great save from concord keeper Jamie Butler to deny Town an equaliser which would of given them a big boost after a frustrating half.
Concord has the first sight of goal in the second half when on 47 minutes Tony Stokes flashed a ball across Town's six yard box but the ball invaded everyone coming in. The game started to get a bit physical as the referee was letting an awful lot go, much to the dismay of both teams, benches and fans alike.
On the hour mark Town's winger James Mulley headed over from close range when perhaps he should of hit the target while two minutes later Concord's Stephen Cawley struck an effort from the edge of the area across goal but wide.
Then on 68 minutes a flashpoint as it seemed a Town player appeared to stamp on Concord's Tony Stokes after a challenge from the Concord captain but the referee took a different view of the situation and booked the player. Town were made to pay for this though as from the free kick came the second goal as the place kick was parried out by Nick Hamann into the path of Concord's James White who managed to bundle the ball over the line for 2-0 and dreamland for Rangers.
Five minutes after this Town somehow didn't score when a downward header towards goal was scrambled off the line but still looked line it would creep in as it went across goal but drifted just wide for a corner, suming up Town's luck in front of goal in this game, and to be honest the evening as a whole had been a frustrating one for them.
Concord seemed pretty comfortable with anything Town through at them and time after time Steve King headed anything away and with his centre back partner Paul Goodacre they held firm to deny Braintree any way to goal. Four minutes of injury time were held up and after all of these had been played Town finally got a goal when James Mulley poked the ball over the line after a goalmouth scramble from a corner, but it was literally too little too late as from the kick off the referee blew his whistle to end the tie and make Concord Rangers 2013-14 Essex Senior Cup winners.
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