Braintree come from behind to boost survival bid and add to Gateshead woes

Braintree eased any lingering National League relegation fears by denting Gateshead’s promotion chances with a 3-1 comeback win at the International Stadium.

The visitors started in determined fashion well with Chay Cooper forcing keeper Tiernan Brooks into an early save and John Akinde heading just wide.

Ben Worman went close for Gateshead when he flicked Regan Booty’s free-kick on to Henry Gray’s crossbar and defender Dan Jones eventually opened the scoring, heading home another Booty delivery 10 minutes before the break.

Kyrell Lisbie might have had Braintree level before half-time, only to steer brother Kyreece’s cross wide, but the pair combined 12 minutes after the restart to set up Cooper to level.

The visitors went ahead through Akinde’s penalty and increased their lead three minutes later when Kyreece Lisbie fired home from Cooper’s cross to extend the Heed’s losing run to four games.