Lowestoft Town 1, Braintree 0: Lowestoft Town maintained their excellent pre-season form with a well- deserved single goal victory over Braintree Town.

Lowestoft Town 1, Braintree 0

Lowestoft Town maintained their excellent pre-season form with a well- deserved single goal victory over Braintree Town.

The visitors, who play in the step above Town in the Blue Square Bet South, predominantly fielded the side that had beaten Gillingham a week earlier.

Lowestoft started with a new central defensive pairing of Curtis Haynes-Brown and Sam Gaughran.

In an evenly contested first-half, clear chances were at a premium with defences coping with all that was thrown at them.

The first real action for either keeper came as Lowestoft's Adam Smith fired in a venomous 30-yard free kick which Nathan MacDonald dived to collect.

Andy Reynolds was called into similar action parrying a ferocious drive from Mark Jones from a similar distance.

The best chance of the first half fell to Danny Bloomfield whose diving header from Haynes-Brown's long throw was parried by MacDonald.

Lowestoft made nine changes to their line up for the second period and survived an early scare as Reece Harris had the ball in the net for Braintree but the flag was up for off side.

Lowestoft began to create the clearer chances as the game wore on with Jamie Forshaw hooking the ball over the bar after Neil Plaskett's long throw had been touched on by Reece Hunn.

Forshaw was looking lively and he sent Craig Bussens away down the right but Christy Finch's flick from his cross was straight at the keeper.

Forshaw was again involved as he nodded on another Plaskett throw to Stuart Ainsley whose rising drive just cleared the bar.

The only goal of the game finally arrived in the 82nd minute and it was fitting that the lively Forshaw would be the scorer.

Jack Marsden, who had missed virtually all last season with injury, had enjoyed an excellent 45 minutes and sent a superb ball over the back four to pick out Forshaw's run and the diminutive striker struck the ball past the keeper from 20 yards.

t Lowestoft Town: Reynolds, Poppy (Sub Plaskett), Smith (Sub Marsden), Dale Cockrill, Gaughran (Sub Crane), Haynes-Brown (Sub Halliday), Mitchell (Sub Bussens), Fisk (Sub Ainsley), McGlone (Sub Finch), Bloomfield (Sub Forshaw), Francis (Sub Hunn)

t Braintree Town: MacDonald, Doyle, Jones, Thomas, Bailey-Dennis, Symons, Riddle, Davis, Guy, Marks, Hazell, Subs Martin, Harris, McClusly, Holloway, Thouy, Sanders.