Leaders felled at Braintree as Chesham answer their chairman
Maidstone United arrived at Cressing Road top of the National League South and with five straight league wins behind them. They left with nothing. Braintree Town beat the leaders with a performance their own channels called resilient, Alfie Matthews taking the supporters' man-of-the-match vote, and did so with a defender signed that morning: Jet Dyer, on a three-month loan from Dagenham & Redbridge, was available for selection immediately. For Maidstone United, whose Craig Fagan had collected the division's Manager of the Month award for August days earlier, it was a first defeat since the opening afternoon.
If that was the week's most abrupt correction, the most pointed came at the Fusion Aviation Community Stadium. Chesham United chairman Peter Brown had used his programme notes to push back at unrest after defeats to Truro City and Billericay Town, writing that "nobody likes losing football matches, but equally we are not going to start hitting the panic button after a couple of disappointing results". His side then won 4-1 at Horsham, Alex Lafleur scoring twice either side of goals from Jayden Bennetts and Hisham Kasimu. Joint manager Michael Murray described it afterwards as a dominant display. The Hornets' board, in a weekend update, had already acknowledged pressure on squad depth, with Sam Howes, Reece Meekums and Lee Harding all sidelined.
