Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Having seen his side slip into the bottom three the previous weekend, Uxbridge captain Mark Gill shouldered the responsibility and duly bagged his first ever hat trick for the club to secure three vital points against in form Braintree. Having been beaten in ten of their previous twelve league matches this was a game Uxbridge dared not to lose. With Braintree in a rich vein of form themselves it was always going to be tough but the Reds made a bright opening, with Chris Moore forcing an early save from Braintree goalkeeper Dean Mahoney, and were ahead in the twelfth minute. Hours of practice on the training ground were rewarded when Dean Clark’s corner was headed on by Mark Weedon and Gill was perfectly placed to power home a shot from close range. It was an ideal start for a side low on confidence. Braintree though weren’t ready to lie down and as the half progressed so they began to flex their muscles. Mark Jones flashed a shot wide in the twenty fourth minute and shortly afterwards prolific goalscorer Robbie Reinelt was narrowly wide with a good effort. Consequently, it was no great surprise when the visitors drew level eight minutes before the break and it was Reinelt who added another to his tally. Jones’ header picked him out and the shaven headed striker gave Sean Dawson no chance with a well placed shot. Instead of heads dropping though Uxbridge continued to believe and such strength of character was rewarded in the fifty sixth minute when Clark and Gill combined again. This time Clark’s corner curled towards the far post and this time Gill met it with a firm header to restore the Reds lead. Thereafter Braintree were never able to find a rhythm or present the home defence with any real difficulties. Although Jones shot over and Danny Stanley sliced wildly wide with only Dawson to beat it was Uxbridge who looked more likely to add to their lead and they should have done so in the seventy fifth minute when Russell Tanner’s appalling back pass landed at Lee Tunnell’s feet leaving him with just Mahoney to beat but the Reds striker delayed too long and his shot was blocked. It didn’t matter though as eight minutes from the end the Clark/Gill partnership worked again with another Clark corner picking out the captain’s head and this time the ball going in off the crossbar. Having created three goals Clark almost grabbed one for himself in the dying minutes, after being set up by substitute Jamie Carter’s first touch of the ball, but shot wide with just Mahoney to beat and then was only just over with a twenty yard dipper. History has a strange way of repeating itself in football circles. Last November Braintree arrived at Honeycroft placed in the top six and a struggling Uxbridge side duly sent them packing after a 3-1 victory. This season little has changed, except for the fact that these points might turn out to be much more important for George Talbot’s team than they were a year ago.

UXBRIDGE: Dawson, Granville, Weedon, Mills, K.Cleary, Walters, G.Bamford, Gill, Tunnell (Carter 84), Moore, Clark.

Subs not used: Shipperley, Roberts.

BRAINTREE TOWN: Mahoney, Jones, Tanner, Howard, Game, Reinelt, Stanley, Leeke, Noble, Smith (Gutzmore 78), Quinton (Kelley 78).

Subs not used: Keeper