April 1 AFC Bournemouth 1-1 Southend United Att: 7638

Southend United might be top of League One, but for a side 6-points clear of the rest, sure they dominated most of the match in terms of possession, but clear cut chances ............. they were more like us in that respect!

For much of the first half, the two sides were evenly matched in terms of possession. The difference was that Southend appeared to know what to do with their possession, whereas we didn't!

Goater did get the ball in to the back of Stewart's net only to see an offside flag raised!!

Hayter was probably unlucky to see a ball come off him float over the cross bar after excellent work from Hart and Cooper after 10 mins.

On 20 mins, Southend won their first corner of the match. What happened inside the 6-yard area is beyond me with the number of bodies in the way. I did see the ball come off the cross bar and then next thing we knew it was in the back of the net from Eastwood on 21 minutes! That was his 19th goal of the season.

HT: 0-1

The second period wasn't that much different from the first ..... few clear cut chances, and Southend seemed to know what to do with the ball more than we did!

Gareth Stewart did have to be alert to make a great double save, and we were thankful for an Eddie Howe clearance off the line, but that was all Southend created in terms of clear cut chances.

At times we played some super football ..... broke away, carved the opposition open with ease. But there were times, sometimes in the same move, when the errors were more suited to a school boy match!

The lack of midfield is clear to see. When camped in our own area we'd clear straight to a Southend player, no matter where he happened to be. The midfield, last seen in Burnley and Preston, was nowhere to be seen!

Eventually patience and tenacity paid off 5 minutes after Pitman came on. For some reason, Southend tried to kick Pitman in the head - free kick awarded. The kick was floated across the face of goal for Hayter to ghost in at the far post to head home from very close range! NO MORE THAN WE DESERVED!!

This set up an interesting final few minutes ............ shame our shooting boots were elsewhere!

My man of the match nomination goes to Shaun Cooper - never stopped - a star for the future in my book! Assuming we don't flog him off cheap to Burnley or Preston North End beforehand!




AFCB: Stewart, Young, Purches, O'Connor, Howe, Hart, Browning, Cooper, Foley, Fletcher, Hayter
Subs: Cooke (on for Foley, at HT), Coutts, Tindall, Rix, Pitman (on for Hart, 75)

Andy Burton, Portsmouth