MANAGER Kelvin Davis felt his side failed to react to setbacks after Braintree hit back to beat Eastleigh 2-1 for their first away win of the season on Saturday.

Tyrese Shade fired Eastleigh into a 25th-minute lead with a superb individual effort, dribbling his way into the box and planting a low finish into the bottom corner.

Shade sliced another chance over the crossbar early in the second half before Braintree equalised through Tom Blackwell, who headed home Chay Cooper’s looping cross in the 54th minute.

Braintree clinched victory after George Langston’s 82nd-minute long throw was flicked on in the box and Frankie Terry pounced to head the winner off Eastleigh’s Paul McCallum.

Davis said: “I thought we were really strong in the first half. We finished the half really well but we couldn’t repeat that in the second half for whatever reason.

“The conversation at half-time was good, it was really positive. We had a good feeling coming into the second half.

“The game changes when they score the equaliser. We couldn’t recover, which is disappointing, mainly on the mental side.

“We didn’t recover from a set-back, which is not a good sign. We know that they get one and the next one can come. We didn’t defend that situation very well and the ball ends up in the back of the net.

“Whenever you score, your end is up, you want to push on and you want to score. There was opportunities for us to deal with that situation and manage the ball better.

“We kind of went away from the game plan in the second half. We didn’t defend a very defendable situation. It was in our heads to make the triple change a little earlier.

“We could feel the momentum change. It felt like they were in the ascendancy, we wanted to break it up a little bit.

“We put three fresh guys on the pitch with the hole it would give us a spark in the game. Unfortunately, they got the goal at that time. Our players couldn’t affect the game in a more positive way.”

Asked if Braintree’s comeback could be put down to Eastleigh’s energy levels, Davis said: “I would hate to think it was energy levels.

“We’ve had two really good weeks of training. Really good. If a training session could get you points, we would have them before the game. We know that’s not the reality.

“The reality is can we take things from the dressing room and training ground onto the pitch. We couldn’t in the second half. The took full advantage of our weakness.

“This is not the team we expect at home. It’s not the team we have been or the team we want to show the fans. We want to be high energy. That disappeared in the second half.”