COX PRAISES RESILIENCE AND TOGETHERNESS

Wealdstone boss Sam Cox hailed his side’s resilience and unity after the Stones ground out a hard fought 1-0 victory over Braintree Town at The Vale in the Enterprise National League on Saturday.

Substitute Dan Nkrumah marked his return from injury with the decisive late goal, a moment Cox described as “fantastic” after the forward’s rehabilitation spell.

“It was a fantastic moment for Dan,” said Cox. “He’s worked so hard in his rehab and to come on and make that kind of impact shows his character. We asked him to bring that energy up front, to press in the way Micah's been doing recently and he certainly did that.The lads who came on really made the difference, that’s what we’re about as a club. Everyone plays their part.”

The Stones had to be patient against a disciplined Braintree side who set out to frustrate. After a bright performance in the midweek win at Yeovil, Cox admitted his team took time to find their rhythm.

“It’s never easy after such a big result,” he reflected. “We knew Braintree would be desperate to respond to their form and make life difficult. They sat off us and tried to frustrate, but we stayed patient. At half time we made a few tactical tweaks, going a bit more direct, playing more towards Sak's side and I thought that gave us a new dynamic in the second half.”

Cox reserved special praise for Sak Hassan, who was named Man of the Match after an impressive display on the flank.

Goalkeeper Dante Baptiste was again a standout performer, pulling off two superb saves late on to preserve the clean sheet, the Stones’ third in succession.

“When our backs are against the wall, Dante’s that beast between the sticks who bails us out,” Cox smiled. “Those last two saves were top class.He’s been brilliant for us - works hard every day, stays humble and sets standards for the group. We’re lucky to have him.”

There was some concern late on as Max Kretzschmar limped off with a suspected hamstring injury.

“It’s unfortunate,” said Cox. “Max was excellent at Yeovil and again today. He’s a leader, which is why he’s our vice-captain. We’ll get him scanned early next week and assess from there.”

The closing stages saw some heated exchanges between the two sides, but Cox was quick to defend his players’ reaction.

“That’s just resilience,” he said. “Teams can’t come to our backyard and think they can bully us - we’re not having that. We’ve got grit, nous and we’ll stand up for ourselves. We’ll review the footage - Deon doesn’t think it was a red - but overall, I’m super proud of the boys. Three clean sheets in a row says everything about the togetherness and spirit in this group.”