United 2
(Stobbs 57′, Jarvis 90+4′)
Braintree 1
(Davies 6′)
Aaron Jarvis’ injury-time penalty clinched back-to-back comeback wins for United, who also chalked up their 4th successive victory in the process.
An early goal for the visitors saw Will Davies put Torquay on the back foot, before Jack Stobbs made it all-square after the break. The final word was left for Jarvis, who clinched victory with his second injury-time winner of the fledgling 2023/24 National League South season.
Following the 2-1 win at Slough on Saturday, United manager Gary Johnson opted to make one change to the starting line-up, with Finley Craske taking the place of Will Jenkins Davies, who dropped down to the bench.
The Gulls were certainly the quickest out of the traps and were nearly rewarded in the 2nd minute, however, on this occasion Jarvis could only stab wide following Stobbs’ right-wing cross.
Four minutes later though, it was Braintree who broke the deadlock.
Having beaten the offside trap by the narrowest of margins, Irons centre-forward drove purposefully into the penalty area, before beating the advancing Mark Halstead with a diagonal low drive from eight yards.
Johnson’s men responded to that setback relatively well, as they enjoyed plenty of ball possession – however they weren’t initially able to convert their territorial advantage into much in the way of clear-cut chances.
Jarvis, off a Dan Martin cross, and Ross Marshall, from a Stobbs corner, both headed off-target as the first half edged towards its midway point, although visiting goalkeeper Jack Sims remained untroubled.
A couple of Jack Stobbs free-kicks did eventually call Sims into action as the half wore on, although both deliveries were a little too close to the glovesman to give United’s attackers a decent sight of goal.
The deficit remained at the change of ends.
Whilst the Yellow Army were hoping for a second half fightback similar to Slough 48 hours earlier, it was actually The Iron that threatened once things got going again.
George Quantrell was the first to sound a few alarms, with a wriggling run that forced a near-post parry from Halstead on 48 minutes, before Kyran Clements saw his half-volley deflected over the crossbar a minute later.
Parity was restored just short of the hour-mark though.
After winning a free-kick on the left hand side 20 yards from goal, Stobbs produced a moment of real quality to curl the ball into the top right-corner, leaving Sims to grasp at fresh air.
That was the catalyst for Johnson’s men to put the Braintree defence under increased pressure, and they came within a whisker of going in front with three-quarters of the game gone.
First, an unmarked Ross Marshall headed wide from a half-cleared corner six yards, before substitute Dillon De Silva got on the end of a deflected pass to rattle the woodwork from close-range.
By now, the visitors were feeding off scraps.
Marshall volleyed wide from just outside the box, as the openings that failed to appear in the first half arrived with a vengeance.
When Marshall departed, it was his replacement, Will Jenkins Davies that was next to go close, darting into the box before smashing the ball just over the top from close range, with Sims dashing out to narrow the angle.
It appeared that time would eventually deny The Gulls – it was all about the men in yellow come the dying stages – but then with three of the eight minutes of additional time used up, sheer persistence paved the way for a United penalty.
Dean Moxey, ever the pro, refused to give up on a lost cause inside the box, and after diverting the ball away from the byline, Jarvis’ run beat the ‘keeper’s dive, leaving the referee with no option but to point to the spot.
Jarvis picked himself up, fired the ball low to Sim’s right, and made it 2-1.
Torquay saw the match out with minimum fuss, leaving the Yellow Army to celebrate a fourth successive win – despite having to experience a whole range of Bank Holiday Monday emotions.
Onto Aveley!
UNITED: 1. Mark Halstead (c), 3. Dan Martin (21. Dean Moxey, 78′), 4. Tom Lapslie, 6. Ross Marshall (18. Will Jenkins Davies 83′), 9. Aaron Jarvis, 10. Lewis Collins (17. Dillon De Silva, 54′), 11. Brad Ash, 15. Finlety Craske, 16. Shaun Donnellan, 23. Ollie Tomlinson, 27. Jack Stobbs.
SUBS NOT USED: 14. Brett McGavin, 18. Will Jenkins Davies, 22. Rhys Lovett
Yellow Card: Marshall 27′
BRAINTREE: 1. Jack Sims, 2. Ben Tompkins, 3. Leon Davies, 4. Alfie Payne, 5. Kyran Clements, 6. Joseph Grimwood, 7. Tom Blackwell, 8. Reggie Lambe, 9. Will Davies, 10. Arnold Matshazi (15. Josh Dawudo, 62′), 11. George Quantrell (14. Michael Brothers, 90′).
SUBS NOT USED: 12. Josh Blunkell, 16. Toby Stevenson.
Yellow Card: Clements 36′, Quantrell 52′, Sims 71′, Davies 73, Payne 74′, Brothers 90+1′
Attendance: 2,543 (23 away)