Dartford were held by title rivals Braintree in their final home game of 2017.

They took the lead through Andy Pugh but were pegged back late in the first half at a subdued Princes Park.

Darts remain top of National League South on goal-difference with five teams level on points in the fight for promotion.

Nathan Collier belatedly made his second Dartford debut, three weeks after rejoining the club from Hampton & Richmond, while Pugh started alongside Danny Mills up front.

Lee Noble was only fit enough for a place on the bench while top scorer Alfie Pavey was also named among the substitutes.

The sides began the afternoon level on points with each other and third-placed Hampton, with the top seven clubs separated by just three points.

Braintree started as bright as their fluorescent orange shirts, with plenty of energy and knocking the ball about nicely. An early header flashed over Deren Ibrahim's crossbar and the keeper then had to get behind a long-range Phil Roberts strike.

Another shot deflected narrowly wide for the visitors so it was against the run of play that Dartford took the lead on 16 minutes.

The goal owed much to a surging run down the left by Tom Murphy, who got his head up well and teed Pugh for a smart first-time finish into the bottom corner.

Darts enjoyed a good spell after the goal, Mills throwing himself at a dinked Pugh cross forcing a good save from Nathan McDonald.

Mills was in the thick of the action suddenly, glancing another header past the far post and then testing McDonald again.

But as half-time approached, Braintree started to get their foot on the ball again and push the home side back. Barrington lashed a shot over for the visitors, who were easy on the eye and more careful with their passes than Dartford.

However, it was almost 2-0 when McDonald dived to his left to push out a powerful shot from Elliot Bradbrook. The ball bounced awkwardly for Mills, who couldn't quite force the rebound home under pressure from Ricky Gabriel.

Tom Bonner thumped a shot well over from the resulting corner before Braintree scored a controversial equaliser just before half-time.

Mills was clearly fouled on halfway but the officials allowed play to continue and when Gabriel fizzed in a low cross from the left, there was Barrington to ram the ball home from close-range.

Braintree started the first half as they'd finished the first - on top.

Barrington headed over from a left-wing cross when he should have hit the target, then Crooks forced a low save from Ibrahim after running unchallenged into the box.

It was all Braintree for a few minutes with the Darts defence facing a barrage. Ibrahim charged out to collect a through-ball, didn't get there and was fortunate to see Roberts miss the target from a very narrow angle.

The Essex side were on top for a while but then back came Dartford with a series of balls into the box. Tony Burman sent on Alfie Pavey and Lyle Della-Verde for the last 25 minutes and Della-Verde drilled a low shot across the face of goal when a cross from the right dropped at his feet.

But the quality was draining out of the game, epitomised by a shot on the stretch from Hayes which missed the target by a long way. There were groans from the home fans when Della-Verde wasted a free-kick in a good position, spooning his effort behind for a goal kick.

Pavey sent Mills racing clear in stoppage-time but he had no-one up in support and the chance vanished.

Dartford: Ibrahim, Harris, Bonner, Vint, Onyemah, Hayes, Collier, Bradbrook, Murphy (Della-Verde 68mins), Pugh (Pavey 67mins), Mills. Subs not used: Sho-Silva, Noble, Cue.

Braintree: McDonald, Muleba, Gabriel, Ellol, Okoye, Frimpong, Barrington (Michael-Percil 73mins), Crook (Allen 84mins), Roberts (Baxter 90mins), Grant, Bihoutine. Subs not used: Obanwonyi, Oliyide.

Attendance: 936.