Reggie Lambe was the toast of the Braintree Town dressing room after his dramatic extra-time winner clinched promotion to the Vanarama National League on Monday.

The Bermuda midfielder came off the bench to grab the winner with a diving header in the 108th minute from fellow midfielder Charlie Wakefield’s cross to secure Braintree a thrilling 4-3 win over Worthing in the National League South play-off final at Sussex Transport Community Stadium.

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Lambe was unavailable yesterday, presumably as a a result of some celebrations, but team-mate and compatriot Willie Clemons was more than happy to comment on the semi-professional club’s successful push for promotion this season.

“It’s a great achievement for the boys, just proud to be a part of the group,” he told The Royal Gazette.

The 29-year-old midfielder has been sidelined by injury since February, which required surgery to repair an anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, but is finally back on his feet and looking forward to the next season with plenty of optimism.

“I’m back on the pitch just very recently, so looking to get a good summer of work in before pre-season and hit the ground running,” Clemons added.

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Braintree drew first blood after taking the lead in the 23rd minute when midfielder Dominic Odusanya evaded his marker and headed in Tom Blackwell's corner for his first goal for the club.

But it was game on again when forward Ollie Pearce equalised for the home side with an exquisite left-footed finish 12 minutes later to leave the teams deadlocked at 1-1 at the interval.

Pearce then went from scorer to provider after pulling the ball back for midfielder Jack Spong to curl into the corner from the edge of the box in the 53rd minute to put Worthing ahead for the first time in the match.

Town’s fortunes took another turn for the worse when defender Leon Davies was carried off on a stretcher just before the hour mark, but they pressed on and were again rewarded when forward Aaron Blair ran onto Odusanya’s lofted pass and volleyed past Worthing goalkeeper Ollie Wright to bring the teams level again eight minutes later.

Braintree regained the lead in the 66th minute when Wakefield strode forward before arrowing an angled strike into the far top corner from near the edge of the box.

However, Worthing again refused to roll over and equalised two minutes later when forward Danny Cashman slammed another pullback from Pearce past goalkeeper Jack Sims to send the match to extra time.

Braintree had a goal ruled out by the referee for a foul on the goalkeeper after Alfie Payne had the ball in the back of the net, but they were back in the driver’s seat when substitute Lambe popped up with the eventual winner before Sims made another crucial save.

The win secured Braintree’s promotion to the National League, the fifth tier in the English football pecking order, for the first time since 2019. They qualified for the play-offs after finishing fifth in the National League South.