Braintree Town 2 Maidstone United 1 match report: Tom Leahy scores penalty consolation as National League South leaders beaten

National League South leaders Maidstone lost to Braintree as their five-match winning streak ended in Essex.

Former Dover midfielder Alfie Matthews scored twice for the hosts in the second half, including a penalty, while Tom Leahy replied from the spot in added time.

Defeat also saw the Stones surrender their 100 per cent away record after four wins on the road.

Alfie Tuck replaced Alex Stepien-Iwumene in midfield in the only change from Maidstone’s midweek win at Tonbridge.

The Stones were slow to get going at Cressing Road as Braintree made the better start in front of their home crowd.

It’s one of those places where visiting teams have to roll up their sleeves and win the battle first, and Stones boss Craig Fagan wasn’t seeing enough of that.

He made the point clearly from his technical area and the leaders improved slightly as the first half wore on.

Frankie Hvid certainly did himself justice from the start, however, denying Ansius Lewis with a committed block-tackle and stopping the same player in his tracks with another good challenge in the box following a pass from George Evans.

Braintree, a threat with their long throws, played some nice stuff around the edge of the Maidstone box but were missing the final piece of the puzzle when in good areas.

They did, though, hit the bar in first-half injury time through Lewis after Lenny Holden fumbled an awkward free-kick by Matthews, whipped in with pace from the left.

Maidstone had the best openings of the half despite being off the pace.

Riley Court ran into the Braintree box from his own half after linking with Leone Gravata but fired past the far post, when a pass to Tom Leahy might have been the better bet.

Gravata had an effort blocked after delaying his shot