Match report Via Braintree Town.

Braintree Town bowed out of the Essex Senior Cup with a 1-0 defeat at Tilbury on a freezing night in the south of the county.

The game was played on a difficult pitch, that was frosty and made it tough for both sides, at Chadfields, but Lewis Jaggs’ first-half goal proved to be the difference between the two sides as the Dockers booked their place in the quarter-finals with a trip to Redbridge.
Braintree did create chances and dominated for large spells in terms of possession, but manager Danny Cowley admitted that his team looked unlikely to respond in terms of goals.
However, the Iron boss was much happier with the application he saw from his players after being disappointed with how they had performed in their FA Trophy defeat by Stourbridge last weekend and felt the Senior Cup run-out would benefit them as they return to Vanarama National League action at Forest Green Rovers on Saturday.
Cowley said: “It was a disappointing result first and foremost as it’s disappointing to lose in any cup competition.
“Credit to Tilbury as they are a good team, very hard working and very much together.
“They scored with the only shot on target that they had, but it was one of those nights that I think we could still be there now and we wouldn’t have scored.
“It was a tough pitch, but that’s no excuse.
“However, we showed good application, more energy and more drive, particularly in the second half.
“As a game, we dominated without being able to take our chances and it was one of those nights for us.”

Braintree: Michael Crowe, Remy Clerima, Sam Habergham, Matt Paine, Matt Fry, Chez Isaac, Alex Woodyard (Kenny Davis), Taylor Miles, Sean Marks, Ibra Sekajja (Michael Cheek), Anthony Edgar (Harry Anderson). Unused subs: Akinola, Spark