City 2 (Smith 47m, Stearn 50m) v. Braintree 0 full time att 784

7 league debutants for City, with Mann and Stearn on bench. Brunt not in squad.

Sounds quite tight, possibly fortunate to be still drawing. Down the wicked slope second half!

Kermy: hope your recovery is going well...

Superb result! I thought City just edged it before the break, although Braintree looked really handy on a number of occasions; particularly forcing that fantastic double save from Ryan Clark.
I wondered if it was going to be the type of game where we would rue our missed first half chances. But with the switch at half time, and Ross Stearn's inclusion, City looked and played to another level. Two superbly taken goals. Tom Smith, Joe Rains, Ross Stearn, Tom Richards, in fact everyone, all looked a different class.
Definitely a good opening to the season ... Loved the Adam Mann song as well

First half patchy. Second half commanding. Braintree totally wilted, we took advantage, but few sides would have coped with that tempo.

Luton Roman wrote: Brunt not in squad.

Nor for the next two matches - remember?

Terrific performance today - hard to believe there were so many new faces in the team as they stroked the ball around with increasing confidence and the new defence looks as good as ever.

Perhaps not quite as spectacular, but Stearn's goal was very similar to the one he scored for Sutton at TP.

For me that was the best opening day performance since the 2-1 win at Bishop Stortford a few years back and probably the best opener at TP since the mid 90s when Paul Adcock destroyed Macclesfield.

Ross Stearn's 46th goal for the club, 13 have come from the bench including his last four. He's also not far off becoming our top scorer in National League South, currently jointly led by Dave Pratt and Andy Watkins.

I can remember us picking up the occasional draw here and there on the opening day and looking quite promising. But the second half we were excellent, for so many new players it seemed to gel quicker than normal. Braintree have Billericay on Tuesday, they don't get any easier...

Even stevens first half but going 4--3-3 second half changed the dynamic and city just totally dominated the opposition. To be fair they have done this to the league sides during pre seson without finding the scoring edge. I expected as soon as we found our scoring boots it would take off.
I agree Raynes was MOM and everyone played their part but I would like to praise Tyler Harvey who worked his socks off and gave us an outlet and he worked well with Watto.