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Southend-on-Sea. Not exactly the place I’ve always dreamed of going to when I need a break. For Christ’s sake I lived there for 23 years before moving to Australia a few years ago. To me I wouldn’t have ever considered the place a tourist attraction – the only fools to go there are half the cast of Eastenders for no real reason once a year.
What’s it famous for? Not much other than a rather long pile of wood sticking out in the Thames that tends to burn down every so often. And according to urban myth, a few easy women come 2:30am on a Friday night.
Apparently though, Southend was once one of Britain’s top tourist resorts. How, when, and why, I’d love to know…
Anyway, I was born here, bred here (I’ll probably die here), went to school here and began most of my careers here. At 13 I was a paperboy, 16 a 9-5 office boy, and at 18 I decided I fancied being a barman. That job took me on my working holiday to Australia, where I found myself taking on coaching roles at a local football team, later taking a handful of low profile manager jobs in the Australian leagues. Now I return, not as a barman or a coach, but as Steve Tilson’s replacement at my old hometown club. God help us all.
05-06-2005, 01:08 AM
(SHC) Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside... Post #2
Southend-on-Sea – A Brief and Pointless History Lesson
The area now known as Southend has been inhabited by the typically strange Essex types (perhaps) for thousands of years, through the Stone Age and Bronze Age before Roman occupation of the area from the 1st Century AD. During the 6th-9th Centuries the village of Prittlewell, now part of the town, was established by Saxon immigrants. The Dane’s later occupied the area before defeat at the Battle of Benfleet.
Southend was ‘officially’ born in 1481 with the earliest records of Sowthende being used as a name, the area becoming a vital naval base following Leigh’s use as a port during The Armada.
Tourism was born in Southend in the 1760s with the first mention of sea-bathing at the seaside town. The Princess of Wales even took a dip here in 1801.
The famous 2158-metre long pier – which attracted 7 million visitors a year in its heyday - was completed in 1835 (well, not really – it was 94 years later when the final extensions were completed and opened), proceeding to be hit by 4 disasters inside 40 years. Fire destroyed the pavilion in 1959, which was replaced in 1962 by a bowling alley which burnt to the ground 33 years later. In 1976 fire destroyed the pier head, and in 1986 the MV Kingsabbey sliced through it. Lucky place.
1906 was the year important to me though, I suppose. Southend United Football Club – AKA The Shrimpers or more commonly The Blues - were established following a meeting on 19th May of that year, when the town decided a semi-professional club was needed alongside the old top amateur side Southend Athletic.
Fast forward to the late 80s and Southend’s finest years as a football club. They achieved the feat of going from Division 4 to Division 1 in successive seasons, although the Division 2 to Division 1 step of that was due to the birth of the Premiership, and topped Division 1 for all of 3 hours on New Year’s Day that year – their highest ever league position, those years thanks in huge part to a certain Stan Collymore.
Since then it’s been a depressing story – freefall to the Third Division, or League Two as it’s now known, and there hasn’t seemed a way out since. SUFC have been moving in the right direction so far in the 21st Century though – long may it continue. At least I hope so… The Med’s nice at this time of year…
05-06-2005, 01:43 AM
(SHC) Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside... Post #4
Cheers millwallrules, I hope that too funnily enough...
July 11, 2004
Here I am then. Back in sunny Southend on my first day in the job. Blimey, when I left for Oz back in ’97 I honestly didn’t have any plans to come back to this town. Anyway, I was warmly greeting by Ron Martin, the chairman, on arrival at Roots Hall this morning. He was quick to assure me I’d have his full backing against any doubters of my abilities, which was good to know – as was the fact he fully expected a struggle this season. Can’t really let him down, then. With the meeting and greeting and niceties aside, though, it was time for the splendid news that there’d be no money to spend on improving my squad. However a £550,000 injection from the board shortly after my arrival did a little to bring us closer to escaping debt.
The first friendly match was mere hours away, so much of my first morning in the job was spent scouring the country and beyond for new talent to improve the side. A number of offers for free agents and potential loan signings were made.
Southend United vs. Chesterfield
Friendly – Roots Hall, Southend-on-Sea
The first match of six friendlies I was due to see before the start of the League Two campaign. The bog standard Southend team began slowly as Chesterfield controlled the midfield area and created several attempts on Flahavan’s goal. They’d be unlucky not to go ahead before the break.
Fortunately the second half was much closer, with Maher and Smith linking well to create a few chances for the forward line of Freddy Eastwood and Tesfaye Bramble. It took a good performance from Darryl Flahavan to keep out Chesterfield who always looked more like scoring until the last few minutes when Eastwood rattled the post before forcing an excellent save from sub keeper Danny Lockwood. In the end it was the men between the sticks who excelled themselves here.
Southend United 0 Chesterfield 0
Attendance: 384
Man of the Match: Darryl Flahavan (Southend)
July 13, 2004
The newbies began to file into Roots Hall, with no less than nine players joining the club today. Three strikers, namely Michael Jeffrey, Simon Parke and James Flood were brought in to find the goals. Danny Bolt, Stevie Searle, Dean Stevens, Pat Lynott and Paul McGregor all joined to improve the midfield options, and finally former Ireland international Phil Babb came in to add to the defence.
July 14, 2004
Four more came through the door today. Defenders Carl Laurie and Matthew Wicks, goalkeeper Shaun Allaway and attacking midfielder Ryan Ashington all came in on free transfers to add further to the ever expanding squad.
July 15, 2004
Southend United vs. Birmingham City Reserves
Friendly – Roots Hall, Southend-on-Sea
This was a big match. Well, it would’ve been if it was the full squad and not the Premier Division side’s reserves. Still, they looked sharp early on and created most of the attacking play early in the match. They eventually had a golden chance when Duncan Jupp brought down Njazi Kuqi in the box. Kuqi stepped up to take the resulting penalty but Flahavan, having another excellent match, dived the right way to save the effort.
The missed chance seemed to deflate the visitors and they went on to completely fall apart in the second half. Eastwood headed in a perfect cross from McGregor, who also set up Stevie Searle to double the lead not long after. A superb solo effort from substitute Michael Jeffrey finished the job late on. We’d dominated superbly everywhere on the field and fully deserved an emphatic win.
Southend United 3 (Eastwood 54, Searle 71, Jeffrey 85) Birmingham City Reserves 0
Attendance: 198
Man of the Match: Dean Stevens (Southend)
After the match two further signings were confirmed. Fellow Essexboy Simon Downer, formerly of Leyton Orient, joined for free, and Leeds midfielder Paul Keegan joined for a season-long loan.
July 16, 2004
Young defender Lee Sims came in on a free transfer to continue the ever-increasing squad. Young Leicester forward Tomi Petrescu also came in as another season-long loaner.
July 20, 2004
Southend United vs. Plymouth Argyle
Friendly – Roots Hall, Southend-on-Sea
Today saw the visit of Championship level opposition to Roots Hall. Plymouth were on paper the better side, and tonight were better on the pitch as well. They started a lot stronger before we woke up and came into some sort of life later in the first half.
We continued playing the better football for much of the second half, with Stevens and Searle both forcing heroics from Luke McCormick in the Plymouth goal. Our defence let us down, winning just 38% of attempted tackles and allowing Plymouth too many chances, but Flahavan played excellently to keep the score goalless.
Southend United 0 Plymouth Argyle 0
Attendance: 375
Man of the Match: Darryl Flahavan (Southend)
Also today, former Sheffield Wednesday defender Lee Briscoe joined on a free transfer, rejecting Queen of the South, Airdrie Utd and Shamrock Rovers in favour of moving to Essex. West Ham’s Trent McClenahan however rejected a possible loan move.
July 26, 2004
Southend United vs. Carlisle United
Friendly – Roots Hall, Southend-on-Sea
My lads began stronger for once today but it wasn’t long before Carlisle got into a rhythm. We soon conceded our first goal of pre-season, when Flahavan had the last touch on a Glen Murray effort, but within minutes another own goal would level the match. Ryan Ashington’s corner beat the Carlisle keeper, and ended up coming off Tom Cowan before crossing the line.
The second half was a very close affair, with neither side really escaping the midfield battle to create goalscoring chances. Carlisle won a penalty when Keegan held back Magno Silva Vieira. For the second time so far though Flahavan guessed correctly to save the effort, maintaining a perfect penalty saving record. Even if it is only two out of two.
Southend United 1 (Cowan og 40) Carlisle United 1 (Flahavan og 31)
Attendance: 400
Man of the Match: David Beharall (Carlisle)
July 29, 2004
Farnborough Town vs. Southend United
Friendly – Cherrywood Road, Farnborough
Our first and only away friendly of the pre-season schedule saw a visit to Farnborough, a team much changed from the day they famously visited Arsenal in the FA Cup. They were good enough to keep us busy trying to break through and attack, forming a strong barrier in midfield and restricting us to a total of just three attempts on the almost spectating goalkeeper. Fortunately we kept them down to just a singular effort, fired harmlessly wide by Adrian Deane.
The many half-time substitutions made by Farnborough boss Dean Austin paid off, as the fresh legs performed better in the 30-plus Celsius heat, and Jermaine Hamilton gave them the lead with a superb effort early in the second half. The second half after the goal though was completely Southend running the show, but the chances created – ten in this half – just could not be converted past the excellent sub keeper, former Arsenal youngster Craig Holloway.
Farnborough Town 1 (Hamilton 52) Southend United 0
Attendance: 56
Man of the Match: Craig Holloway (Farnborough)
August 1, 2004
Southend United vs. Newcastle United Reserves
Friendly – Roots Hall, Southend-on-Sea
Once again Southend saw the visit of a big Premier Division side’s reserve team. One-time number one ahead of Shay Given, namely Steve Harper, was always going to be a difficult man to beat, and comfortably kept out the few attacks we created. We were playing with ambition to score and score again as we have done throughout pre-season, barely allowing Newcastle out of their own half, and leaving Flahavan untroubled for the entire 90 minutes. Harper stood firm though and the final result would be another goalless draw.
Southend United 0 Newcastle United Reserves 0
Attendance: 208
Man of the Match: Mark Gower (Southend)
05-06-2005, 10:19 AM
(SHC) Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside... Post #6
Ta PM7, I look forward to hopefully kicking butt at this challenge - seeing as I failed Cloughie miserably (twice.)
August 3, 2004
The League Two promotion odds were released, with Oxford United backed as 5-4 favourites to go up come May. The betting odds among the top teams are close though, with both Grimsby and Northampton priced at 6-4, and Mansfield, Lincoln and Wycombe all at 7-4.
My team were given odds of 40-1, predicted for mid-table at best. Think I’ll stick a tenner on that and set out to prove the bookies rather wrong…
August 6, 2004
The First Round Draw for the League Cup was made, where we were handed a difficult tie at home to Championship side Sheffield United.
With the League Two season about to begin, and the reasonable pre-season gone, it was time to assess the squad in an attempt to pick a first choice starting eleven to take into the start of the new term.
Southend United F.C. Squad, 2004-2005
Goalkeepers
13 – Shaun Allaway, 21 – English
An excellent looking prospect and should be second choice to Darryl this season. Has the benefit of youth and plenty of time to work hard and fulfil his potential, and could be a vital player if he does.
1 – Darryl Flahavan, aged 26 – English Darryl has consistently been number one since his move on a free transfer from Woking back in 2000, having began his career at Southampton. While unspectacular, he’s a very reliable and consistent man in goal.
33 – Bart Griemink, 32 – Dutch Decent enough as a backup goalkeeper, and with plenty of experience in English football behind him – over 200 club appearances in this country since joining Birmingham in 1995-96. He’ll be a useful squad member if called upon.
Defenders
5 – Phil Babb, 33 – Irish (35 Caps) The former Liverpool and Ireland star has now made almost 400 appearances in a career spanning 16 years to date. Now in his twilight years, he retains the tackling ability that kept him at the heart of many defences over the years, and is likely to do exactly that for me in the year ahead.
25 – Adam Barrett, 24 – English A decent enough centre back with plenty of experience at this sort of level with Plymouth, Mansfield and Bristol Rovers. 179 appearances at his age is an impressive tally, and he may well be given the chance to add to that with us.
17 – Lee Briscoe, 28 – English The former Sheffield Wednesday man once was good enough to play 5 times for England at Under 21 level, and has experience in the upper leagues of English football. A good signing for no fee, but will need to impress to warrant his large weekly wage.
4 – Simon Downer, 22 – English
Born and bred just a few miles up the road in Romford, Simon is a good young defender with plenty of potential to become a regular at the club.
21 – Andy Edwards, 32 – English Decent enough player, but age counts against him with the current crop of players battling for his position, and his reasonably high wage coupled with the fact he’s unlikely to be a regular has seen him placed on the transfer list.
26 – Lewis Hunt, 21 – English Similar looking player to Edwards, but again unlikely to challenge too strongly for a first team spot and his wage is one I’d rather see off the annual bill. Transfer listed.
22 – Duncan Jupp, 29 – Scottish A regular with the Scottish Under 21s back in his Fulham and Wimbledon days, and played most of last season’s matches here for Southend. He has a few contenders for his place, but fortunately they’re youngsters who have plenty of room to improve yet and will keep his place for the time being.
2 – Carl Laurie, 22 – English A young versatile defensive player looks as though he may well have a bright future ahead of him. Another of those with the potential who just needs to put in the work to fulfil it.
3 – Nicky Nicolau, 20 – English Nicky can play in defence and midfield, but doesn’t look incredibly strong in either position. Has age on his side and will be a decent enough backup to the first team this season.
15 – Spencer Prior, 33 – English Born locally and was part of the side during those ‘glory years’ of the late 80s and early 90s before moving to bigger and better things. He’s still a useful player and will be battling hard for a place in the starting line up.
Lee Sims, 19 – English Much like Nicolau he can play in defence or midfield but isn’t exceptional as yet. At 19 though there is more than enough time to turn from promising to a good, vital part of the squad.
18 – Matthew Wicks, 25 – English Decent enough player who’ll probably play as backup when the new season kicks off.
Midfielders
20 – Ryan Ashington, 21 – English Another young lad with the potential to do well. He’ll be waiting in the wings for a chance to break into the line up for now, but should be given a shot at some point.
9 – Mark Bentley, 26 – English A £16,000 buy from Dagenham & Redbridge a year ago, Mark looks an impressive player and will be certainly in the first sixteen, if not the eleven.
29 – Danny Bolt, 28 – English
Another free signing, who while being nothing too spectacular, has the ability to backup the first team and – if given the chance – perhaps string together a run in the side.
7 – Mark Gower, 25 – English
Formerly of Tottenham, Mark has had a good few seasons with Barnet and then us, and will be high in the pecking order to make the first team this season. Paul McGregor presents a good challenger for his position that only their respective performances will decide the winner.
6 – Michael Jeffrey, 32 – English
Very experienced, Michael plays best in attacking midfield with a good eye for goal.
37 – Paul Keegan, 20 – Irish
Irish Under 21 midfielder, on loan from Championship side Leeds. Certainly looks impressive and competes with Lynott and Maher for the defensive midfield role.
12 – Pat Lynott, 20 – English
Lynott looks strictly a backup to Keegan & Maher for now, but another who has the abilities to break into the side if given a chance.
8 – Kevin Maher, 27 – Irish
Over 200 appearances for the club since joining from Tottenham in 1997. Should be among the side as an important player once more.
30 – Paul McGregor, 29 – English Had some Premier League experience with Nottingham Forest in the 1990s. Not quite a top-flight class player, but decent enough to feature this term. Faces a tough battle with Gower for his position on the right side of midfield.
31 – Stevie Searle, 27 – English Experienced at this level with Barnet, and looks a decent choice for central midfield.
27 – Jay Smith, 22 – English
Product of the Aston Villa youth system, and a good young player. The competition around him looks likely to deny him a place in the first eleven, but he’s good enough to step in if required.
16 – Dean Stevens, 18 – English
The teenager has looked excellent in the pre-season friendlies, and almost certainly will feature regularly on the left side of midfield this season.
Attackers
19 – Tesfaye Bramble, 24 – English Not quite as successful as Titus, Tes has now been a regular at Southend for four seasons. Certainly good enough at this level, and should make the first sixteen at least.
11 – Lawrie Dudfield, 24 – English A very average forward, with a wage I’d rather lose in the battle to eventually balance the books. He’s been transfer listed.
10 – Freddy Eastwood, 20 – English Came through the ranks at West Ham before joining us. A prolific scorer at youth and reserve team level for the Hammers, we’ll hope he can replicate that in League Two this season.
32 – James Flood, 23 – English Played well in the friendlies, but just needs to find the scoring boots if he’s to make the side when the competitive games begin tomorrow.
24 – Wayne Gray, 23 – English Another distinctly average player, and has been transfer listed as a result.
28 – Simon Parke, 32 – English Useful striker, and should be a handy member of the team for a season or so.
14 – Tomi Petrescu, 18 – Finnish
Tomi certainly shows the skills to be a very useful player this season, during his loan spell from Leicester City.
05-06-2005, 03:52 PM
(SHC) Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside... Post #8
Lincoln City vs. Southend United
League Two, Match 1 – Sincil Bank, Lincoln
Finally, after 27 days in charge it was time for my competitive debut as manager of Southend United. Lincoln went into the match as favourites and set out to avoid disappointing, troubling Flahavan early on before taking the lead thanks to Francis Green early in the match.
The goal quickly bumped Southend into life and it wasn’t long before a superb pass from Maher allowed Bramble the time and space to move into a dangerous position and level the match, which restored hope in my visiting side.
From then on we dominated and had a lot more of the attack, but simply couldn’t beat Alan Marriott to secure all three points on this occasion. Still, a decent start to the league season and hopefully a sign of things to come.
Lincoln City 1 (Green 9) Southend United 1 (Bramble 15)
Attendance: 3,648
Man of the Match: Dean Stevens (Southend)
August 10, 2004
Bad news with a torn groin muscle, plus the surgery to correct it, set to keep Saturdays star man Dean Stevens out of the side until the end of the year. Great.
Southend United vs. Darlington
League Two, Match 2 – Roots Hall, Southend-on-Sea
I wasn’t looking forward to this one too much. Darlington had a good pack of players on the field, plenty of experience from better leagues in the likes of Bobby Petta, Craig Hignett and promising Leeds youngster Jamie McMaster. The front pair of Clyde Wijnhard and Alun Armstrong looked a tough one to deal with, also. They were, as Darlington managed to create five or six chances early in the game, but Darlington though couldn’t convert those chances into goals, We, with our very first effort, could. A silly corner was given away by Darlington and the result seemed harmless enough – Searle’s cross being headed away with little trouble. Spencer Prior though was on the end of the clearance, and sent a stunning 20-yard drive into the bottom corner. For the first time since kick off my new home of Roots Hall was well and truly buzzing.
Darlington continued to be the better team, creating chances with almost every move forward during the match. Flahavan was kept incredibly busy and had to pull off a superb performance to keep us ahead. We finally began to drag ourselves forward near the end and play the better football, mainly due to Freddy Eastwood being a nuisance around the box after coming off the bench, and eventually settled matters moments from the end when Petrescu was first to a McGregor cross and nodded home.
Southend United 2 (Prior 20, Petrescu 90) Darlington 0
Attendance: 3,798
Man of the Match: Darryl Flahavan (Southend)
An impressive home win and unbeaten so far in two. Not that I’m planning the promotion party just yet.
August 14, 2004
Cheltenham Town vs. Southend United
League Two, Match 3 – Whaddon Road, Cheltenham
Having played superbly, especially in defence, to defeat Darlington just a few days ago it was more than disappointing to see the hosts ahead within four minutes here. Damian Spencer hit the bar, but Duncan Jupp’s poor marking allowed John Melligan to reach the loose ball first and he gladly tapped in the opening goal. Cheltenham went on to run the match during the first half, barely allowing our midfield to supply Eastwood and Petrescu with ammunition to pull level.
The second half continued in a similarly disappointing style, and it wasn’t long before Melligan added a second to all but kill off our hopes today. In the end we simply weren’t good enough to create the chances, and without chances we – strangely enough – weren’t going to score much.
Cheltenham Town 2 (Melligan 4, 59) Southend United 0
Attendance: 5,483
Man of the Match: John Melligan (Cheltenham)
August 21, 2004
Southend United vs. Bury
League Two, Match 4 – Roots Hall, Southend-on-Sea
Another tough home match ahead it would seem, as we needed to beat former Wales international Andy Marriott in the Bury goal. They also boasted the good recent signing of former West Ham star Paul Kitson, who was picked up on a free transfer just a few days ago.
For once we were straight out of the blocks and took the game to Bury, creating several chances and then taking the lead before Marriott had finished adjusting his gloves. Tomi Petrescu cut inside and fired into the top corner after a good run to beat the defence, and it was disappointing that by half time it was still only 1-0, as we’d troubled Marriott’s area with 8 attempts, compared to 0 from Bury.
Eastwood replaced the injured Bramble early in the second half and quickly used his pace to trouble the visitors’ defence, almost immediately forcing a good save from Marriott to keep Bury in the match. Eastwood did eventually manage a deserved goal though, heading in Bolt’s cross to double the lead, and secure another good home win to make it seven points from twelve.
Southend United 2 (Petrescu 5, Eastwood 77) Bury 0
Attendance: 3,806
Man of the Match: Danny Bolt (Southend)
August 25, 2004
Danny Bolt had made the League Two Team of the Week following his superb performance on Saturday, where he played an important part in both goals that defeated Bury. However he had to replicate that tonight in a real test of our abilities against a team of Championship promotion-chasers in the League Cup.
Southend United vs. Sheffield United
League Cup, First Round – Roots Hall, Southend-on-Sea
Good home form we may have enjoyed so far, taking maximum points in the league, but we needed to really turn it up tonight in front of a near capacity crowd at Roots Hall. Sheffield United had started well in their bid to reach the top flight, winning 4 out of 5 so far in the Championship, while we had to keep them out without the injured Phil Babb, replaced tonight by youngster Simon Downer.
We started fairly well, with Bramble having the first decent chance of the match palmed away for a corner, but collapsed after twenty minutes conceding twice in two minutes. Ashley Ward and Andy Gray each scored to put the Blades in control and our hopes looked dead in the water when Danny Cullip added a third close to half time.
The second half was pretty much a non-event, as the visitors sat on their lead. We started attacking with a bit more intent, Eastwood and Bentley firing narrowly wide as we tried to come back, but in the end the early double had killed our hopes here, and we sank to defeat at the first hurdle of this competition.
Southend United 0 Sheffield United 3 (Ward 20, Gray 22, Cullip 42)
Attendance: 12,318
Man of the Match: Ramon Ramirez (Sheffield United)
05-07-2005, 05:22 AM
(SHC) Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside... Post #9
Oxford United vs. Southend United
League Two, Match 5 – The Kassam Stadium, Oxford
Oxford would provide another difficult challenge, rated as the favourites to go up and captained by on-loan Don Hutchison, not injured for just about the first time in his recent career. They started strongly with Hutchison linking midfield and attack superbly, showing he’ll be vital to the promotion chasers during his 3 month spell there. He set up Steve Basham to put the hosts in front shortly before half time.
Despite being behind we’d had more chances and the goal came as a bit of a blow to our growing confidence in this match. Chris Tardif was having a good day between the sticks though and had pulled off a string of good stops to keep us from appearing on the scoresheet.
Then for some reason, after starting the second half in fine form, we collapsed. Basham scored a second before Hutchison scored beautifully from a long-range free kick. By the time Juan Pablo Raponi had scored it was all over anyway, and his goal simply added to the embarrassment. The emphatic score flattered Oxford who never really dominated the match, but nevertheless it was a poor performance on our part and one we’d need to recover from very quickly.
Oxford United 4 (Basham 37, 58, Hutchison 64, Raponi 83) Southend United 0
Attendance: 4,793
Man of the Match: Steve Basham (Oxford)
August 31, 2004
Jimmy Corbett was on his way out this afternoon, moving a few miles up the road to neighbours Billericay in a £5,000 deal.
Southend United vs. Kidderminster Harriers
League Two, Match 6 – Roots Hall, Southend-on-Sea
Two terrible results preceded this one, so we needed to recapture the good home form we’ve enjoyed so far in the league to escape the rot. Unfortunately, we didn’t, and Tom Bennett scored from the spot to put Kidderminster in front. Gary Birch added to that early in the second half, which proved the final goal in a quiet and very disappointing match.
Southend United 0 Kidderminster Harriers 2 (Bennett pen 36, Birch 48)
Attendance: 2,972
Man of the Match: Tom Bennett (Kidderminster)
September 11, 2004
Swansea City vs. Southend United
League Two, Match 7 – The Vetch Field, Swansea
There wasn’t really two ways about this – we had to get back into form having scored none and conceded 9 in our last three matches. We should’ve gone ahead early, when Bramble was allowed room to break through the defence, but he lost the one-on-one against Willy Gueret. Bramble played well though, managing to keep the French ‘keeper well occupied during the first half, even having a goal disallowed for offside after Bentley had hit the post and he’d jumped onto the rebound.
The second half continued in a similar vein with Gueret kept more than busy, but never beaten. It was frustrating but we showed the type of performance we needed to do to stop the poor form.
Swansea City 0 Southend United 0
Attendance: 5,075
Man of the Match: Willy Gueret (Swansea)
September 18, 2004
Southend United vs. Leyton Orient
League Two, Match 8 – Roots Hall, Southend-on-Sea
Our closest thing to a local derby against the East London visitors, whose manager Martin Ling had spent much of the week trying to unsettle my side with comments to the media. I decided to ignore them, leaving all the talking to be done on the pitch. Orient uttered the first words, going ahead ten minutes in through Billy Sharp. By half time though we had levelled, Mark Gower sending a superb long pass over the defence to allow Eastwood to volley home the equaliser.
Early in the second half our hard work was undone once more, as Michael Simpson scored a scrappy effort to put the visitors back in front, which was almost enough to land all three points for them. Fortunately on our part though, Orient keeper Morris stupidly ran out to clear a ball he was never going to reach. Tomi Petrescu was always the first one there, and easily rounded Morris to tap in the goal that earned us another point.
Southend United 2 (Eastwood 45, Petrescu 84) Leyton Orient 2 (Sharp 10, Simpson 53)
Attendance: 4,108
Man of the Match: Billy Sharp (Leyton Orient)
September 25, 2004
Grimsby Town vs. Southend United
League Two, Match 9 – Blundell Park, Cleethorpes
Once more we started about as badly as possible against a struggling Grimsby side who went 2-0 ahead in the first quarter of an hour. Today wasn’t silly goals conceded though, by half time we were being well and truly outclassed here and lucky to only be two behind.
Losing Jupp to a red card did us no favours for the second half in which we needed to try and claw back, but against ten men or otherwise the hosts were always the better team and played us off the park. I was glad to leave with two goals against and not more.
Grimsby Town 2 (Gritton 13, Pinault 15) Southend United 0
Attendance: 2,782
Man of the Match: Terrell Forbes (Grimsby)
September 28, 2004
Southend United vs. Woking
LDV Vans Trophy, Southern Section First Round – Roots Hall, Southend-on-Sea
Today saw a weaker team on the field to take on weaker opposition in the rather less than important LDV Trophy. As runners up last season perhaps we were expected to do well in the competition but it wasn’t something at the top of my thoughts with League form something we needed to improve before worrying about this.
Amos Foyewa, another product of West Ham’s youth system, struck first to put Woking ahead early in the match, but Mark Gower levelled for us midway through the first half. Woking were reduced to ten men before half time when Karl Murray saw red for a foul on Nicolau, which gave us hope to take the win and progress to the next round.
It took a while but we went in front about twenty minutes from time when Adriano Basso palmed Jeffrey’s header into his own net, and after Alex Tiesse was sent off to reduce the visitors to nine, we had little trouble in strolling towards a relatively simple win and a place in Round Two.
Southend United 2 (Gower 26, Adriano Basso og 73) Woking 1 (Foyewa 12)
Attendance: 2,229
Man of the Match: Jonathan Boardman (Woking)
05-08-2005, 05:08 PM
(SHC) Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside... Post #10
Notts County vs. Southend United
League Two, Match 10 – Meadow Lane, Nottingham
We picked up another point in a rather dull match at Meadow Lane. Lawrie Dudfield played well on a rare appearance, coming close once or twice, but this one was more based around midfield and only a small handful of chances were created by either side.
Notts County 0 Southend United 0
Attendance: 3,428
Man of the Match: Lee Sims (Southend)
Before our next match, we welcomed back former Southend player Scott Houghton. The 32-year-old winger was here for 3 years before moving to Leyton Orient in 2000-01. He returns in a £2,000 move from Wootton Blue Cross.
October 16, 2004
Southend United vs. Rushden & Diamonds
League Two, Match 11 – Roots Hall, Southend-on-Sea
Rushden were so far playing well, taking 19 points from their 10 matches and floating around near the top of League Two. It wouldn’t be easy to get back into winning ways against them, then. Dudfield started once more, and repaid the faith by putting us ahead after just 15 minutes. We came close to extending the lead several times in the first half.
Rushden pushed hard to take something from the match and looked like doing so, so losing debutant Scott Houghton to a red card did us no favours. Rushden joined us in having ten men a few minutes later when Peter Hawkins saw red also. We just about kept enough in the tank to hold on for the three points.
Southend United 1 (Dudfield 15) Rushden & Diamonds 0
Attendance: 3,147
Man of the Match: Barry Hunter (Rushden)
October 23, 2004
Southend United vs. Macclesfield Town
League Two, Match 12 – Roots Hall, Southend-on-Sea
Performances have improved of late and it looked like more of the same here when midfielder Bentley came close twice in the opening ten minutes. Today though Macclesfield were too much to handle, the forward line of Rooney (Thomas, not Wayne) and Steve Owens using their youthful pace to keep my defence more than busy. We were lucky to still be level at the interval.
In the second half Macclesfield continued to attack Flahavan and eventually took the reward when Owens put them in front from close range. After the goal they sat back on the lead and kept out every desperate attack we made on Steve Wilson’s goal as we tried to take something from the match.
Southend United 0 Macclesfield Town 1 (Owens 57)
Attendance: 2,915
Man of the Match: Danny Swailes (Rushden)
October 30, 2004
Wycombe Wanderers vs. Southend United
League Two, Match 13 – Adams Park, High Wycombe
This match was closely fought from the off, still it was disappointing to find ourselves behind before long to Nathan Tyson’s long range effort. At half time it remained 1-0, although we looked the better side going forward.
The second half was simply frustrating. For the first half hour of it we created more, and better, goalscoring chances but simply couldn’t take them. Then we apparently gave up and crumbled at the back.
Wycombe Wanderers 3 (Tyson 15, 83, Ansah Owusu 76) Southend United 0
Attendance: 3,902
Man of the Match: Nathan Tyson (Wycombe)
(SHC) Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside... 
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