Goals from Jordan Cox and Chez Isaac have earned Braintree Town a 2-0 victory at Southport, who remain three points clear of the Conference Premier relegation zone.

With points still required for safety, the pressure was on Southport and during the early stages, it showed as Dan Sparkes almost headed Braintree into an early lead.

Just before the quarter-hour mark, Cox nearly broke the deadlock but was denied by Tony Thompson, before Southport finally displayed some ambition with a 20-yard drive from Steve Hewitt but his shot lacked the accuracy to beat the goalkeeper.

However, shortly after the restart, Braintree edged in front when a cross from Bernard Mensah found Cox inside the penalty area, and the forward made no mistake as he flicked the ball home at the near post.

Moments later, Mitch Brundle came close to doubling their lead with a 25-yard effort that cleared the crossbar, before Connor McCarthy almost nicked an equaliser for the home side when heading wide of the far post.

With six minutes left though, Braintree sealed the three points thanks to Isaac, who picked up a pass from Sparkes before sending the ball into the top corner to help his team into 15th place in the standings.