A strong Braintree Town squad continued their unbeaten pre-season run by putting seven goals past Heybridge Swifts at the Texo Stadium, Scraley Road.

A 7-2 win for Danny Cowley’s team means they have now won four and drawn two of their summer fixtures, but two late goals for the hosts saw them finish the game well.

The scoring started in the tenth minute when Simeon Akinola was fouled on the edge of the Heybridge box and Dan Sparkes stepped up to fire in from the penalty spot.

Akinola then got on the scoresheet himself four minutes later as he outpaced the Swifts defence, cut inside and rifled a shot into the net.

A neat move then opened the chance for Michael Cheek to score the first of his two goals on the night and Sam Habergham profited from some indecision in the Swifts’ defence just before half-time to set up Kenny Davis, who made it 4-0 to Braintree at the break.

The goals kept coming after the restart as substitute Jordan Cox combined with Sparkes to allow Cheek to slide the ball in and complete his brace.

The Iron made a number of changes and one of those who had come on, former Torquay United midfielder James McQuilkin, made it 6-0, while another substitute, ex-West Ham man, Anthony Edgar, added a seventh.

That was it for Braintree’s scoring, but the last ten minutes belonged to the hosts as Shamido Pedulu capitalised on a mix-up between Iron keeper Nathan McDonald and defender Matt Paine to nip in and get a goal back.

And Heybridge doubled their tally with three minutes remaining when Josh Fagbohun drilled a low shot through a crowd of players from outside the area to make the final score 7-2.