Southend tightened their grip on a National League play-off spot with a 3-2 win over Essex rivals Braintree.

A first-half brace by Andy Dallas put seventh-placed Southend in control before Oli Coker had them three up after 54 minutes.

Ryan Battrum and Sahid Kamara struck late on at Roots Hall to set up a grandstand finish, but Braintree lost again and have dropped to 23rd with an eight-point gap to safety and only four matches left.

Dallas did the early damage for Southend with his sixth-minute effort followed up by another after 33 minutes.

All three points looked secured when Coker found the net with a deflected long-range strike before Braintree rallied.

Battrum started the comeback with a deflected 69th-minute goal before a fine solo effort from Kamara with seven minutes left raised the visitors' hopes, but a 23rd league loss of the campaign leaves Braintree on the verge of relegation.

Match report supplied by PA Media.