Aldershot Town secured a 2-1 victory over Braintree Town in their final pre-season friendly ahead of the upcoming National League campaign. The match took place on Saturday at Braintree’s home ground, where the hosts, recently relegated from the National League, started strongly.

Braintree nearly opened the scoring in the 15th minute when Louie Johnson’s header narrowly missed the target. Their breakthrough came in the 22nd minute through new signing Anisus Lewis, who converted a well-placed cross from Alfie Matthews. The goal marked Lewis’s seventh of the pre-season, highlighting his promising start to life with the Iron.

Aldershot Town, however, responded emphatically in the second half. Three minutes after the interval, substitute Basil Tuma netted an equalizer, controlling the ball inside the penalty area before striking a low shot past Braintree’s replacement goalkeeper James Taylor. The game remained level until the closing stages when Aldershot’s substitute Elijah Oladunjoye launched a long throw into the box. The delivery caused confusion in the Braintree defense, and after a scramble, Michael Stickland managed to tap the ball over the line in the 88th minute, securing the win for the visitors.

Manager Scott Davies praised his team’s second-half performance following the match, noting that Braintree had been the superior side in the opening 45 minutes. “This was a tough fixture and Braintree were excellent in the first half and better than us, but in the second half we stepped it up and I was happy with that performance,” Davies said.

The victory provided Aldershot with a positive final tune-up ahead of the National League season, demonstrating resilience and the ability to come from behind against strong opposition. Meanwhile, Braintree will look to build on their promising opening period as they prepare for their campaign in the division below.