Braintree welcomed Copdock and Old Ipswichians 2nd XI this week and were determined to limit any celebration going on in Ipswich this week.

With the previous days rain it was a miracle we even had a game, taking that into account the unbeaten 1st XI skipper won the toss and elected to field.

Copdock got off to a slow start, mainly due to some very tight bowling from Robbie Spalding and Josh Paget and it was the former that got the first breakthrough when he had the opposition captain, Reuben Sharp, caught at mid-on by last week's hero Chris Walker.

With the pressure building, Copdock started to play some shots but this was short lived as Donald Mlambo snicked off to Matt Renvoize off the bowling of Paget for 10 to leave the batting side 26-2 and in early trouble

Wickets started to tumble with Spalding taking the next two to fall. Menzies caught in the slips by Chris Hinks for 8 and Afsar (0) expertly caught by Chris Walker running towards the fence over his shoulder to a ball that went extremely high.

Grace Poole then came into the attack and once again bowled tightly for no rewards. This prompted Chris Hinks to introduce himself to an all spin attack with the returning Louis Cant on at the other end.

Both bowled a variation of deliveries to try and entice the C&OI batsman into playing shots. Chris claimed his first and only wicket when he trapped Barney Messer, who had been frustrating Braintree, LBW for 5.

Cant, looking at the scoreboard saw there were 5 wickets left and was desperate to get another 5fer. He took the next 4 wickets to blow away the tail, only to see batsman number 11 not padded up and unable to bat due to a wrist injury. C&OI all out for 122.

The talk between the openers Matt and Chris was about being patient, which was optimistic, racing to 33 off the first 4 overs when Hinks missed a straight one and was bowled by Freddie Foyster for 22.

Renvoize was next to go when he was harshly judged to be out LBW, bringing all rounder Louis Cant to the crease and both he and Geoff Eveling set about chasing the modest total posted.

With the partnership at 48 Eveling was bowled to a ball that he possibly could have hit on the second time round, however he had steadied the ship and batted well with Cant, despite trying his best to run himself out when he dropped his bat mid run which led to a perfectly timed slide tackle into the crease.

This brought Chris Walker to the crease and there was a lot of buzz about him. Record numbers of teams had transferred him into their fantasy teams and he repaid them all with -20 points and a golden duck as he trudged back to the pavilion having snicked his first ball. Matt Kent came and went for 3 and the once calm sideline had become a little bit more nervous.

Bryn Powell and Robbie Spalding wasted no time in settling those nerves with Robbie batting in his usual fashion and pushing back every fielder. Bryn played the anchor role whilst Robbie found the boundary 4 times and finished the game off with a glorious cover drive for 4.

Braintree remain unbeaten and are 15 points clear at the top for their visit to Dunmow next week.