Sutton bounced back from two home defeats with a narrow victory at Cressing Road, with former Braintree man Will Davies scoring the only goal of a closely fought game.

There were two changes to the side which narrowly lost to Gateshead on Wednesday evening. Ashley Nadesan returned following his one game suspension and Dillon De Silva returned to the starting XI for the first time since opening day after a period out through injury. There were some enforced changes for Sutton. Midfield duo Finley Barbrook and Jayden Harris found themselves suspended after picking up five yellow cards while Lewis Simper remained out with the injury sustained midway through the first half against Oldham Athletic.

Braintree came out of the blocks at the start of the first half the quickest and opened the game with the ball in the back of the net as Louis Annesley forced it in from a long throw which Jack Sims had failed to hold under pressure but an assistant’s flag for offside cut short the celebration. Sims faced more pressure from a following corner, and the referee was quick with his again whistle to rule that the keeper had been fouled.

De Silva brought down James Vennings which the referee deemed to be a strong challenge, with Vennings hitting the free kick straight at the towering Sutton wall.

Josh Coley would lead the following Sutton attack. His ball into the box towards was low and towards Davies, but Braintree scrambled the ball away before it could reach the U’s striker. It would be Coley again prominent in the next U’s attack, his scoop over the top towards Nadesan eventually falling to De Silva. The winger showed some neat footwork to bypass the Braintree defence, but his driven effort was well held by Lucas Covolan in the Braintree goal.

Inih Effiong found himself through on the Sutton left hand side and flicked the ball over Kirk before grabbing the defender’s shirt and conceding a free kick in the process.

With four minutes left of first half action, Covolan handled a back pass from Terry as Davies challenged and after some hesitation referee Richie Watkins awarded an indirect free kick. Davies fired a powerful effort toward the top corner, but the Braintree wall stood tall and blocked out for a corner. Vaz would play a swift short corner with Coley, but the full back’s cross was wide of the mark as the first half closed goalless.

The second half saw Sutton make the brighter start and within minutes of the referee’s whistle, the U’s broke the deadlock.  A neat move on the right ended with Coley managing superbly to get round his man and cut the ball back to Davies who hit home the opening goal from close range.

Soon after, De Silva received the opening booking of the game following a late challenge on Langston.

As Braintree looked to level, Matt Robinson drove with the ball through the Sutton midfield. He eventually laid the ball off to Chay Cooper who curled his effort wide of the far post. Soon afterwards Braintree had optimistic penalty appeals waved away as Coley chased back to win the ball just inside the area.

A double substitution for Sutton saw Matt Rush in place of the injured Davies, while Nana Boateng headed onto the pitch in place of De Silva. The next effort of the game fell for United as Vaz, in an unnatural midfield position, volleyed his effort wide of the goal.

A handball from substitute Rush saw the striker become the second United player in the referee’s book.  Soon after, Chin Okoli replaced Nadesan to shore up United’s back line in their attempt to see out a crucial victory.

Alex Kirk was congratulated by his fellow defenders as he slid to deny Braintree of a chance as the game entered several minutes of injury time.

Akinde ended up as the latest in the referee’s book for an off ball tussle with French which saw the U’s defender on the ground. It would be French to clear the next Braintree attack. Akinde headed the ball across goal, but French stood tall and could clear.

As Braintree searched for an equaliser, the U’s countered. Coley drove the ball forward before releasing Sivi whose curled effort was parried out of danger by Covolan.

Braintree would continue looking for an equaliser, but Sims was rarely called into action against his former side as U’s moved back in to the top half of the National League table.

Sutton: J Sims, A Kirk, C Waller, T French, E Vaz, S Odelusi, J Coley, A Nadesan(sub C Okoli 86), W Davies(sub M Rush 68), J Sivi, D De Silva(sub N Boateng 68). Subs n/u S Arnold, J Eccleston. Booked: De Silva, Rush.

Braintree: L Covolan, F Terry, R Clampin(sub J Fyfield 79), G Langston, L Annesley(sub T Blackwell 87), J Vennings, J Francis, M Robinson, I Effiong, F Wilkinson(sub J Akinde 77), C Cooper(sub C Powell 64). Subs n/u K Lisbie, L Balogun, R Davidson-Phipps. Booked: Akinde

Referee: Richie Watkins

Attendance: 917