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COUNTY
BEATEN BY BARRETT BRACE
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MANY THANKS TO SHEPHERD'S BUSH SHRIMPER FOR VOLUNTEERING
TO Southend United picked up their second successive away win against a woeful Notts County side at Meadow Lane on Saturday. Another brace by top scorer Adam Barrett saw the Shrimpers coast to a comfortable win which really should have been more substantial, although in typical Southend style a late goal was conceded to leave fans on edge before the end. W4 Shrimper, his mate Gav and I arrived at Nottingham station at about 12.30pm. Along with a fair few other Shrimper fans we decided to head down to Trent Bridge to catch a bit of the cricket, as coincidentally Essex were playing Nottinghamshire. It was a surreal atmosphere inside a deserted Trent Bridge. As grey clouds gathered we wandered over to Meadow Lane, glimpsing the City Ground as we crossed the river, for the main event. There was a large contingent of Southend fans spread across the big away end in the impressive stadium, about 250 - 300 by my estimation. The sun came out and the match kicked off with Southend in their light blue away strip, fielding the same starting line up that lost to Wycombe last week. Nothing much happened in the first 15 minutes, the highlight being an impressive header by a Southend fan from a wayward County shot, and the sighting of a particularly large bumble bee (I digress). Former Shrimper Tony Scully had one marauding run which Che Wilson stopped with a good tackle, but gradually Southend began to play the better football and after 16 minutes Carl Pettefer shot wide after being put through by Mark Bentley. Petts should have done better but it was not to matter today. After 25 minutes after a good passing move Southend won a corner. Maher played it short, and received it back (from Gower I think) and put in the cross which Adam Barrett rose to head into the top right hand corner. From then on Southend took the upper hand, Tes Bramble found himself through after more desperate County defending, but failed to get a shot in, Mark Gower then had a tame effort saved after good link up play with Lawrie Dudfield. Half time 1-0 and no more than we deserved. Southend continued where they left off in the first ten minutes of the second half. Dudfield and Bramble both missed chances, before on 56 minutes Barrett again met a Maher corner to power in his second goal, this time to the keeper's right hand side, much to the delight of the Southend fans behind the goal. After this we wasted several chances to kill the game, most notably Lawrie Dudfield whose sloppy finish from 6 yards after good work from Gower was cleared off the line. Wayne Gray came on for Tes and Jimmy Corbett for Gower, but Gray somehow contrived to miss two great chances with powderpuff finishes, the second a lob bouncing just wide after Dudfield set him up. Then, with five minutes to go, just as the bloke behind me predicted, we conceded a late goal and were biting our nails in the last few minutes as County looked for an equaliser. Had they levelled it would have been the biggest injustice of the season. County were one of the worst teams I've seen in a long while. They looked like a team with no confidence or invention and must have gifted us possession twenty times. Apart from the goal they did not really test Daryl at all. It's sad to see the oldest team in the land struggling, and I for one hope they pick up. The second half also saw some banter with a group of County fans dressed up as Robin Hood and his Merry Men, and frankly they should have had a run out so poor were their team. All in all a throughly satisfying day, but I think we can play better, and hopefully we will learn to kill teams off as the season progresses. My ratings: Daryl
Flahavan 7 - Had very little to do, but when called
on did well, particularly when clearing a back header
from Che Wilson from outside his box without handling.
Subs Gray - still not adjusted to this division. Missed two good chances. Needs a goal to settle confidence. Corbett - has put on a bit of weight! Not really on long enough to get involved. What the fans thought ... "Today's
performance was very professional against a very poor
Notts County team who struggled to pass the ball to
one another. It is quite evident that every single player
in the team is now working for each other, chasing everything
down, plenty of talking and encouragement. The defence
looked very solid, Spinner & Barrett were both excellent
and Barrett proves to be one of the best signings for
a long time and chipped in again with 2 excellent headed
goals. Che and Juppy both kept it simple and did a job.
Midfield no real problems, Gower had a couple of good
runs, but is he fully fit? Most of you guys see him
on a regular basis and I thought he looked to be struggling.
Maher did OK, my personal opinion for Bentley for MOM
- never stops running, chases everything, pushes forward
time and time again. Tes had the odd run but seemed
to be holding his back and was taken off to be replaced
by Gray. Dudders looks very sharp and was unlucky not
to score from the Gower cross, he did everything right
and just as I thought it would hit the back of the net
somehow there defender cleared it off the line. Gray
should have scored the lob and maybe Dudfield should
have been greedy and taken it on himself. Great away
following and we certainly did not deserve to concede
a goal. Long time since I remember hearing the fans
chant a players name as loud as they did at the end
"One Adam Barrett", how chuffed was he, last
off the pitch. Spinner was punching the air in front
of us and all the players fully appreciated the away
following. Well done everyone!" "A
good atmosphere created by the boys. "One Adam
Barratt" after his second goal had 90-95% of Shrimpers
fans singing. Quality! Mark Gower did not look interested
and looks out of place on the left. Wayne Gray has absolutely
no movement off the ball, but he's got potential
and needs a lot of work. Solid defensive display,
however they were poor and lacked invention. they passed
the ball in their own half, in ours just hit and hope,
which suited us. I was in the pub that the Robin
Hood fellas were in and then they turned up at. Great
laugh good banter, needed at the games. Who was the
proud owner of the drum who kept that going throughout
the game? A good travelling army, 500 fans? give
or take 100. Tes Bramble and Lawrie Dudfield not
all there today but fear not! "There's only one
Adam Barratt!" And Southend have him!" "What
a game! What a great signing Adam Barrett is!"
Every time we win a corner it looks as if he will score!"
If a defender can do it, why can't Wayne Gray?! God!
what has that bloke got to do to score?! I thought we
would and should have gone on to win 3-0 or 4-0 but
it wasn't to be. At least it was three more points and
a good performance! ROLL ON COLU!!" "Anyone
else think we won today without ever really reaching
top gear? Met up with a County fan after and really
didn't know what to say to him, they were an embarrassment.
Every time we closed them down we won the ball, the
game was won in midfield. There have been a few posts
disputing Gower, but although still not reaching the
standard he set himself last season, it was great to
see that run in the second half when he beat his man
and produced a perfect cut-back for Dudfield; how he
didn't score is beyond me." What the managers thought ... STEVE
TILSON (SUFC) : (NCFC) : |
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Southend
United picked up their second successive away win against
a woeful Notts County side surely heading out of the
Football League at the end of the season. Two more goals
from Adam Barrett secured all three points for the Shrimpers
at Meadow Lane, although the win should have been as
comprehensive as the crushing of Rushden & Diamonds
a couple of weeks ago. Typically the side made the 300
or so travelling army sweat for a few minutes after
conceding with just four minutes to go but had County
equalised it would have been one of the biggest injustices
of the season. So Southend lift themselves into 14th
position in League Two, their highest placing of the
season so far, whilst the oldest professional football
club in the world plummet to the very bottom. It would
be sad to see such the demise of the Magpies, founder
members of the Football league back in 1888, but on
the strength of this performance the Nottingham club
looks doomed.