Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 3 Rochdale 1

[McNasty]

Post your thoughts on our good win today

 

[Evening Echo]

Southend United 3, Rochdale 1

SOUTHEND United charged up to fourth in the League Two table with a 3-1 win over Rochdale at Roots Hall this afternoon.

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[rlb999]

Well done the lads.
Same the crowd didn't stick with you when you went a goal down.
We're well placed, you know - solid defence and there's goals in the side.
Whilst Britt is getting the goals, we have others who can come in for him. It's the lad from Millwall who's brought the team together, and it's him we don't want to lose in January.

 

[McNasty]

Absolutely gutted I couldn't be at the match today. Listened to the 3 goals on the radio driving home from work.

Well done boys.

 

[southendwill]

played as a real unit and were very solid at the back could have had more

 

[davewebbsbrain]

Smith - 6 At fault for the goal, a couple of dodgy punches but a very good save in the first half.

Clohessy - 8 Up and down all day, always an outlet
Barker - 7.5 Got caught once or twice but used his experience. Good link up play with Timlin
Cresswell - 8.5 An immovable force, brilliant
Phillips - 8.5 Same as Cresswell
Hurst - 8 Great play with Clohessy and some good deliveries. Great cross field ball to Timlin for the second goal
Laird - 8 always plays the easy ball, great finish for the third goal. Good movement and vision and great reverse pass to Britt for our first goal
Mkandawire - 8 just sits in front of the back four, wins balls and lays it off.
Timlin - 9.5 MOM. Everywhere today, sublime ball down the touchline on 25 mins to put Britt in. Won everything, was everywhere.
Tomlin - 8 Ran himself ragged again and got yet another goal
Britt - 8 Another good day at the office. Worked well with Tomlin again, another stunning goal.

Sturrock - 10 I have to say Sturrock has come in for a lot of criticism in the past for hoofball but he has changed his style of play and it's paying dividends. Well done.

Home fans - 10 Great noise and support today from all round the ground.

On todays showing, we are auto promotion material.

 

[johnlattimerssponge]

After a scoring a few goals on the road it was great to see three fly into the North Bank net in the second half for us.
At 0-1 down I was a little worried but with such an in form pairing up front I was hopefully we would get back into the game to gain at least a point and the quick two goal salvo so soon after going behind was a great responce.
My only concern is that this improvement in form is becauce we now have a very strong central midfield pairing and a two very lively forwards so I just hope we can hold on to as many of those three loan signings as possible.

 

[silentshrimper]

Great victory, everyone had a decent game. It was my first sight of Tam in the middle, he took a lot of pressure from the centre backs as he won a lot of headers and generally bossed the midfield, allowing Laird to go forward which is what he likes to do. Timlin as always had a good game, possibly the best player on the pitch. The crowd made good noise too, about time we had something good to shout about!

Smith - 7 - Good solid saves in difficult conditions. The goal was a very good cross, maybe he could have come and got it, but there was no defender at the back post either...

Clohessy - 7 - Did well as usual, good link up with Hurst.
Phillips - 8 - Won most headers, unfortunately couldn't clear the goal.
Cresswell - 8 - Like Phillips but seemed more commanding, couple of challenges that went strangely unpunished.
Barker - 8 - Good link up with Timlin, solid defending too.

Hurst - 7 - He is looking a fine player for us, better crossing today but no assists this time.
Mkandawire - 8 - Did all the hard dirty work in midfield very well.
Laird - 8 - Looked to be so well balanced with Mkandawire, well taken goal and I think it was him who made the brilliant pass to Britt for the first.
Timlin - 8.5 - All the early attacking work had him at the helm. Such a good player, good passing and such a good engine, liking him back on the wing too.

Assombalonga - 8 - Some brilliant runs, good goal and was unlucky to not get more.
Tomlin - 7.5 - Got the goal his hard work deserved, looks so much more confident, and his partnership with Britt is brilliant!

Sturrock - 9 - At 3-1 I think we could have made some subs just to freshen the team up, but he has the years to know that anything can happen in those last 15 minutes. His team selection is the easiest it has been since our run early last season.

Solid keeper, solid defence...and now we have the balanced midfield to go with it, as well as free scoring strikers!

 

[CM2 Blue]

A fantastic performance today- good shape, intelligent football and the resilience to bounce back from conceding a goal. The side looks balanced and creates chances- very encouraging. Could see today why we are so good away from home: we counter-attack very quickly and with width. Up the Blues!

 

[ian180]

Good result today against a Rochdale side that started the day in 6[SUP]th[/SUP] place. Solid team performance with everyone contributing something. Cresswell, Timlin and the front two the pick for me. Scrappy goal to give away and thought Smith could have done better. Please for Tomlin, who ran himself ragged (again) and got himself a goal. Best goal of the day was Lairds.
One minor moan, why can’t our goalkeeper kick the ball over the half way line!

 

[LeedsSUFC]

Great win! But the first 5 minutes of the second half, the silence in the North Bank was weird... But the rest of the game was great, got to give it to True Blue for all of that! We must shoot towards the North Bank in the second half!!

 

[Frankie the half breed]

Excellent result, we just proved were a strong team again this season. Lets hope we carry this form on! 4th in the table now!!
Colchester lost 5-1.....That just makes me so much happier.

 

[Clinton Baptiste]

Did attacking the North Bank make a difference 2nd half? Last time that we won at home we were also attacking the north bank 2nd half (vs Exeter). We created a lot of noise and it seemed to spur the team on.
A very good result against a team who do better away from home and had some good players on show. Second half some of our play was superb, the second goal in particular was very well worked. THe front two continued their great form and understanding, the midfield looks far more compact and robust with Tamika and Laird in there, and the back 4 again were superb, particularly Cresswell who must be one of if not the best centre back in the division. Has he had even an average game for us? Smith still concerns me a bit, doesnt seem to have gelled with the back 4 but generally he is solid and his height certainly doee help.

Can we keep this going? Of course the worry is that at the moment Britt, Laird and Tamika are central to our good form. If we keep at least 2 of them till the end of the season then there is no reason why top 3 shouldnt be a realistic aim.

Feel confident ahead of the FA cup game next week against a poor Bury side and a money-spinning 3rd round tie would make a lot of difference to Luggys transfer dealings in January Im sure.

 

[Shakes]

"Best goal of the day was Lairds"- did you miss Britt's?

 

[South Bank Hank]

"Best goal of the day was Lairds"- did you miss Britt's?

I love it when we're 'arguing' about who scored our best goal!!

 

[fbm]

Smith - 6 At fault for the goal, a couple of dodgy punches but a very good save in the first half.

Clohessy - 8 Up and down all day, always an outlet
Barker - 7.5 Got caught once or twice but used his experience. Good link up play with Timlin
Cresswell - 8.5 An immovable force, brilliant
Phillips - 8.5 Same as Cresswell
Hurst - 8 Great play with Clohessy and some good deliveries. Great cross field ball to Timlin for the second goal
Laird - 8 always plays the easy ball, great finish for the third goal. Good movement and vision and great reverse pass to Britt for our first goal
Mkandawire - 8 just sits in front of the back four, wins balls and lays it off.
Timlin - 9.5 MOM. Everywhere today, sublime ball down the touchline on 25 mins to put Britt in. Won everything, was everywhere.
Tomlin - 8 Ran himself ragged again and got yet another goal
Britt - 8 Another good day at the office. Worked well with Tomlin again, another stunning goal.

Sturrock - 10 I have to say Sturrock has come in for a lot of criticism in the past for hoofball but he has changed his style of play and it's paying dividends. Well done.

Home fans - 10 Great noise and support today from all round the ground.

On todays showing, we are auto promotion material.

Agree with everything except the Smith rating. It was a great cross for their goal, the ball was headed straight down, it was too deep for him to come for and it was more the defence's fault for a) not stopping the cross, b) not defending the back post and c) not clearing it off the line.

The conditions were atrocious and given that, I thought he was quite safe and assured. I'd have given him at least a 7, maybe even an 8.

 

[Rayleigh Shrimper]

A very good preformance overall with some exceptional play in the second half with britt and tomlin terrorising there centre halves up until the 90th minute , there work rate is exceptional . Rochdale's goal was poor , people can blame Smith but Barker was actually at fault as he ducked out of heading the ball away when it was there to be cleared before the cross came in. Cresswell was immense throughout as was Laird and Timlin. Overall a very good performance and was great to see some quality goals at the Hall.

 

[shrimperjon]

Hard to be critical after such a positive result and performance. However, once again people can't leave smith alone. He made some excellent saves in very difficult conditions. He caught well and also punched well. Could he have done better for the goal, maybe, but people are forgetting that the defender moved 30 yards unchallenged, hit a 50 yard pass that barker should have attacked and headed away and then no one was at the far post to deal with the cross. So before people have ago at smith please look at the goal from a team perspective. Other than this, a great day.

 

[Shrimper 62]

The manner of the victory was as pleasing as the 3 points. Some lovely build up play through the midfield with options for those on the ball. Tomlin and Britt now running the channels with the midfield knowing to hit the corners. Hurst is now passing for fun. Timlin plays some lovely football - Tam keeps it simple. Can't see that we will be able to keep Tam or Britt beyond Jan, but we must go in for Laird. His goal capped off a great performance. Needless to say Cresswell put in his usual commanding performance. I thought Rochdale looked a good passing team and should be up there at the end of the season. Only downside was the ref - who had a shocker. That said he easily could of given a foul against Cresswell in the first half which would have meant a straight red as their forward would have been in on goal. UTB!

 

[jimmyshrimp]

A very good preformance overall with some exceptional play in the second half with britt and tomlin terrorising there centre halves up until the 90th minute , there work rate is exceptional . Rochdale's goal was poor , people can blame Smith but Barker was actually at fault as he ducked out of heading the ball away when it was there to be cleared before the cross came in. Cresswell was immense throughout as was Laird and Timlin. Overall a very good performance and was great to see some quality goals at the Hall.

Spot on. That was view of it too. Barker did ok other than that but thought he could of cut the ball off before the goal.