Braintree Town will arrive at Boreham Wood on Boxing Day afternoon in a rich vein of form. The Essex side have tasted defeat in the National League just once in their last ten outings, a 2-0 defeat at Lincoln City in October.

More recently their Cressing Road pitch has been deemed unplayable on three occasions, leaving the Iron waiting to play a twice rearranged FA Trophy tie against Bromley, prior to their visit to the excellent playing surface at Meadow Park.

Danny Cowley’s side are ninth in the National League, just three points outside the play-off places but with games in hand over the sides above them.

It is something of a rarity this season for Wood to face a side in this league where the two clubs have a history.

They met four times during a period between 2001 and 2003 in the Isthmian Premier Division. Town won three of those games with the only Wood victory coming at home in September 2002.

That season 48 points were not sufficient to keep Wood up and they suffered relegation out of the Isthmian Premier for the third time in their history.

Eight years later the two sides found themselves in the Conference South but that lasted just a season with the Iron winning the title to establish themselves as a Conference National side. Both of those ties were classic games of two halves, both featured penalties and both featured current Wood boss Luke Garrard.

The away tie in August 2010 saw the Iron storm into a 2-0 half time lead with Sean Marks, who is still at the club, netting a brace.

Elliott Godfrey reduced the arrears in a much improved second half showing by Wood before a penalty for either side resulted in a 3-2 victory for the Iron.

The last time the two sides met was in April 2011 when it was the visitors who improved after the interval, to record a 2-0 victory. Marks netted again, with Bradley Quinton providing a second from the penalty spot.

Since then Town have surprised many by faring well in the top tier of Non-League football. Last season's 14th placed finish was their lowest to date at Step One and with it came a managerial change.

Former West Ham United midfielder Alan Devonshire chose to freshen up his career with a move to Maidenhead United. This heralded the arrival of highly successful Concord Rangers' manager Cowley, who is assisted by brother Nicky.

The pair put the lesser known Beachboys firmly on the Non-League map, steering them from the Essex Senior League to the Conference South in their seven years at the helm.

Cowley was quick to snap up striker Michael Cheek from Chelmsford City. He has proved to be an astute signing and is top scorer at Cressing Road with eight goals.

Second top scorer is club captain Kenny Davis with five. The midfielder joined the Iron from Grays Athletic for the start of their Conference National journey and is enjoying his fifth season at the club.

There are two extremely influential members of the current Town squad that have played a part in the history of Boreham Wood Football Club.

Twenty-three-year-old Simeon Akinola is one of the biggest successes that the PASE Academy at Wood has unearthed.

After limited starts in the Conference South season of 2011/12 he went on to spend two years at Harrow Borough before joining up with Braintree.

His form at Cressing Road earned him an England C call up, adding four goals this season to the seven he netted last campaign.

Another 23-year-old now in his third season with Town is Chez Isaac. The former Watford Academy player was hugely influential in Wood's ninth-place Conference South finish in 2012/13.

His consistent performances in the middle of the park attracted the interest of many higher placed teams and it was Braintree Town who secured his services for the following season.

Fittingly it should be Isaac's 100th appearance for the Iron when he returns to Meadow Park on Boxing Day.