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The first, this Saturday, sees the visit to The Rec of a resurgent Braintree Town, currently 11th in the League but with an impressive record of 27 points from the 14 games played under new manager Lee Patterson. Fireman Patterson enjoyed eight successful years at East Thurrock United and his appointment, to replace a certain George Borg, who was sacked in October, has precipitated a rise out of the bottom four and back towards the Play-Off places, alongside the announcement of ambitious plans to move to a new £10 million, 6,000 capacity stadium built to Football League standard.
Rebuilding the side to maintain the progress made in winning the Ryman Premier League in 2005-06 and reaching the Conference South Play-Off Final last year, Patterson has signed several key players to bolster his squad, including bringing former Captain Russ Edwards back to Cressing Road and pulling off quite a coup with the signature of former Republic of Ireland Under-21, Farnborough and Crawley midfielder, Adrian Deane.
He immediately won the Blue Square Manager of the Month for November, winning all three League games during that month despite a mounting injury crisis, and embarking upon what is now their best-ever run in the FA Trophy. Such has been his impact that Chairman Lee Harding has already shaken hands with Patterson on a new 18-month contract.
Patterson's primary aim has to be to improve his team's poor scoring record: only three teams - all of whom are in the bottom four - have scored less than their 27 goals; however, with Edwards creating a formidable partnership with former Heybridge Swifts Captain Ian Cousins at the heart of the back-four, The Iron can boast the fourth best defensive record in the League. Of course, it probably also helps when your goalkeeper is 6ft 5 man mountain Nicky Morgan.
The team's set-piece expert, midfielder Robbie Martin, will look to link up with right-back Billy Burgess, who plunders a fair share of goals with his aerial prowess.
Top scorer is 20 year-old ex Stevenage striker Chris Sullivan, with seven in total including six in his last 11 games. Sullivan, though, missed Saturday's win at Maidenhead with an ankle injury; a game where Braintree had no recognised striker in their starting XI. Leon Archer has five goals but after beginning the season in the first team has more recently found himself on the bench and, as a result, in self-imposed exile on the transfer list.
Hoping to evoke the underdog spirit of Havant and Waterlooville - a team Braintree drew with on the opening day of the season - Patterson warned his opposite number Gary Waddock that The Shots will have anything but an easy ride. "We have got a very good blend, a mix of experienced players and some young and hungry players," he said. "A lot have been at pro clubs in their younger days and most players at this level of non-league football have that kind of background because they have got ability."
Shots from: Bull, Jamie-Ruiz, Smith, Straker, Newman, Day, Charles, Soares, Chalmers, John Grant, Elvins, Hylton, Hudson, Winfield, Harding, Gier, Milletti Huggins, Simmonds and Joel Grant.
Braintree from*: Morgan, Soutar, Burgess, Burns, Cross, Jones, Cousins, Deane, Hawes, Quinton, Martin, Riddle, Shinn, Baker, Boot, Archer, Sullivan, Paul, Oxby, Hopkins, Laskowski and Smith.
* Most up to date squad list we could find.
League Table(s):
Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Pos | |
| Shots | 29 | 21 | 1 | 7 | 55 | 34 | 64 | 1st |
| Braintree | 25 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 27 | 26 | 37 | 11th |
How They Reached This Round :
Braintree have already picked up £12000 in prize money on this seasons FA Trophy trail, having entered at the Third Qualifying Round. A fairly easy tie against British Gas Business League Division One South and West outfit Gosport Borough got them off to a flying start when they secured a comfortable 4-1 victory (even scoring Gosport's goal for them).
That result was quickly followed by another away fixture - this time against side Gloucester City and after recording a 2-0 victory they made the Second Round draw. A home tie against Conference North outfit Workington made for a much sterner test in the Second Round and after a 1-1 draw, it was off to Borough Park for a replay. With both clubs fully aware that the victors faced a trip to the Recreation Ground - both sets of supporters were confident of an "upset" against Gary Waddock's men.
The Irons finally managed to complete the job 2-1 and made it three away Trophy wins on the trot - a statistic that should give them hope as they take to the field on Saturday afternoon.
Top Scorers:
Shots: John Grant - 18
Braintree: Sullivan - 6
Shot Through:
There are no current players in either side who have featured for the opposition.
Form Guide (last six games played):
Pld | W | D | L | F | A | |
| Shots | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 7 |
| Braintree | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 |
Sequence Statistics:
Shots: Won last home game. Lost two of last three games.
Braintree: One defeat in last three games. Only one defeat in last six away games.
Head To Head:
There have been a total of five games between the two clubs. Four have come in the Ryman Premier League and one in the FA Trophy.
The Shots have won a total of three of those games (60% of games) while Braintree have won the other two (40% of games).
In those games, The Shots have scored a total of 11 goals (an average of 2.2 goals per game), while Braintree have scored 5 (an average of 1 goal per game).
At the Recreation Ground there have been three games, with The Shots winning them all. In those fixtures, The Shots have scored a total of 10 goals (an average of 3 goals per game) and Braintree have scored 1 (an average of 0.33 goals per game).
The Shots record victory against Braintree was a 4-0 victory at the Recreation Ground on Saturday 1st September 2001.
Braintree's record victory against The Shots was a 2-0 win at the Cressing Road Stadium on Thursday 18th April 2002.
Last Time We Met:
The last time the two sides met was at the Cressing Road Stadium on Saturday 28th December 2002. Braintree ran out as 2-1 victors on that day, with Noble opening the scoring after 25 minutes. Lee Charles equalised for the Shots after 25 minutes and just as it looked like a point was secure, Quinton grabbed Braintree's winner with three minutes remaining. It may have been a bad day for The Shots - however they ended the season as Ryman Premier Champions on 105 points while The Iron finished down in 16th position with 54 points.
Shots side: Nikki Bull, Paul Buckle, John Nutter, Matt Langston, Dean Hooper, Anthony Charles (Jason Cousins), Nick Roddis, Ben Walshe (Paul Moody), Stafford Browne, Roscoe D'Sane and Lee Charles (Richard Gell).
Un-used Substitutes: Lee Holsgrove and Gareth Howells.
Radio/TV coverage:
BBC SCR do not hold the rights to broadcast the FA Trophy after the First Round so are expected to feature regular score updates only. Subscribers to the clubs Shots Online service will receive regular SMS updates. To join, click here. You can also join in with the match banter in the Shotsweb Phoenix Chat Room here.
Betting:
Shots win - 4/11
Draw - 3/1
Braintree win - 13/2
Odds from Blue Square here.
For The Record:
If the tie is drawn no extra time will be played. The replay will be at The Cressing Road Stadium on Tuesday 5th February 2008, kick off 7.45pm. The winners of the tie will receive £6000 in prize money. The final of the FA Trophy will be played at Wembley.
Other Third Round ties: AFC Wimbledon vs Torquay United; Burton Albion vs Histon; Crawley Town vs Droylsden; Ebbsfleet United vs Weymouth; Stafford Rangers vs Tamworth; Halifax Town vs Rushden & Diamonds and Farsley Celtic vs York City.
Strayshots prediction:
Braintree have fired an ominous warning towards their hosts ahead of this Saturday's FA Trophy encounter and as the final Blue Square South club in the competition, will have nothing to lose. With the form tables behind them and the knowledge that all three of their away Trophy ties have produced wins, Gary Waddock will hoping that his side can show the same sort of character that was on display against Oxford on Tuesday. Shots win.
Opposition Websites:
Official Braintree website here.
Messageboard here.