Aldershot Town were held to a 1-1 draw by ten-man Braintree Town in the National League.

Josh Barrett’s deflected goal gave the Shots the lead, but Chay Cooper’s late equaliser meant the points were shared in front of a crowd of 1,567 at the EBB Stadium.

The Shots created their first chance of the evening in the second minute when Barrett found Ryan Jones in space down the left. Jones raced past his man but no one was able to get on the end of his cross across goal.

The hosts went close again on ten minutes when Barrett’s corner caused Braintree problems and Ben Jackson nearly headed in from close range. Archy Taylor tried to bundle the loose ball in, but his effort was cleared off the line.

The Shots continued to probe and nearly scored on 25 minutes when Barrett had two shots blocked from the edge of the box.

The Iron produced a dangerous attack four minutes later when Jacob Pinnington delivered a threatening low cross in from the right, but Jed Meerholz was well positioned to clear the danger for the Shots.

Aldershot produced a lovely move on 36 minutes which ended with Barrett slipping in Ryan Hill, whose low effort was well saved by Braintree keeper Mason Terry. Taylor then fired in a shot on the rebound which was blocked.

The visitors went close a minute later when Cooper’s free kick found Aidan Francis-Clarke, whose flicked header went wide of the far left-hand post.

Shots boss Tommy Widdrington was forced into an enforced change in the 41st minute, when Hady Ghandour replaced the injured Jones.

The Iron created the first chance of the second half on 50 minutes when George Langston’s long throw bounced awkwardly in the box and was turned onto the crossbar from close range before being cleared away.

The Shots went desperately close to opening the scoring three minutes later when keeper Marcus Dewhurst’s long kick bounced over Braintree’s defence and Ghandour raced clear before being denied by an excellent save by Terry. The loose ball fell to Barrett, whose shot was superbly cleared off the line by Marley Marshall-Miranda.

Braintree went on the attack a minute later when Terrell Works drove forward and hit a low shot which was well held by Dewhurst at his near post.

Aldershot nearly scored from a set piece in the 56th minute when Taylor rose highest from Barrett’s corner and saw his header blocked, before Maxwell Mullins’ effort on the rebound was also denied.

The Iron almost scored on 59 minutes when James Vennings found Works in the box, who smashed a shot from close range off the right-hand post.

The Shots took the lead in the 65th minute. Taylor beat his man and found Kwame Thomas, who held the ball up and laid it off to Barrett, whose shot took a big deflection on its way into the back of the net.

Widdrington made his second change of the evening on 66 minutes, when James Henry replaced Barrett.

The Iron were then reduced to ten men two minutes later when Vennings clattered into Cameron Hargreaves and received his second yellow card of the evening from referee Carl Brook.

Aldershot nearly doubled their advantage in the 76th minute when Taylor got up well to meet Dejan Tetek’s corner, but his header was straight at Terry.

The visitors got back on level terms four minutes later when Cooper’s low shot found the bottom left-hand corner of the net.

Widdrington made his third change of the evening on 87 minutes, when Tristan Abrahams replaced Meerholz as the Shots looked for a late winner.

Henry had a golden chance to win the game for Aldershot in stoppage time when he was played in, but his right-foot shot went over the bar and the points were shared.

Next up for the Shots is a trip to Southend United in the National League on Saturday, October 4 (3pm kick-off).