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Another excellent 3-0 win. Credit to Brown he got his tactics spot on today, Rochdale have struggled against big direct teams (as two friendly home fans told us in the bar before the game) recently and they did again today. We pressed and closed them down and their defence looked shaky. They couldn't handle Murphy and Corr in the first half. Dale did actually have a few chances early on but we took our two chances and I think the third goal so early in the 2nd half killed them off. Hogan going off injured probably helped a bit. They barely offered anything for the rest of the game and we saw it out quite easily. If anything we looked more likely to get a fourth. We made the team who have been in the top three for most of the season look pretty poor today, if we get into the play-offs then we can go in with the confidence that we've generally played best against the best teams this season (Chesterfield, Rochdale, Oxford). Great away support today, over 400 and some amusing chants - think it's the first time I've heard fans singing in praise of the linesman! An enjoyable afternoon out in the sun. Ratings:

Bentley 6 - Didn't have many saves to make but handling was solid. Loved his 3-0 gesture to the home fans at the end too.

White 7 - Strong defensively and linked up well with Murphy in the first half.

Sokolik 6 - Lost the ball a couple of times during the first half but good in the air as usual.

Egan 8 - Nothing got past him. No nonsense. Gus Poyet should've been watching.

Coker 6 - Did his job.

Murphy 8 - Set one up and scored, looked a threat every time he got the ball. He's got the pace and trickery but he's also strong so he can hold the ball up and shake off defenders. Could prove to be very useful in the run-in.

Atkinson 7 - Put himself about, usual self, and did a lovely bit of skill in the 2nd half.

Leonard 7 - Played as he has done all season, almost scored with a scorching shot.

Timlin 7 - Played well, as everyone did. Worked hard and helped to see out the game in the 2nd half. Almost scored in the first half from closing down the keeper.

Hurst 7 - Looked a bit more lively than he has done lately, maybe having Murphy in the team took the pressure of him being the main playmaker. Good play for Timlin's goal.

Corr 8 - Showed once again exactly what he brings to the team.

Subs - all 6, nice to see Prosser back (without a headband!)
 
Took us an hour from North Wales to watch a cracking game.
Saw the team list and was convinced Brown was going for a draw, but after a cagey first 10 minutes, both teams were intent to attack, Timlin was roaming well with Murphy on the right wing. Murphy didn't see much of the ball early on but then he showed pace and great skill as he ran at and turned defenders.
Southend were chasing everything down and the defence were pretty well rock solid. Rochdale were impressive in the first half going forward with fast flowing direct play, but once Corr scored after great open play from Southend who got the ball to Murphy who played a ball for Corr to tap home. Rochdales leading division scorer Scott Hogan then got injured and they struggled to mount much of a threat but did hit our bar with a long range strike that left Bentley grasping air.
More great open play and a flowing move led to the impressive Murphy scoring the 2nd just before halftime.
Rochdale threw on 2 subs for the start of the 2nd half and they had come out early hoping desperately to get back into the game but another lacy flowing move from Corr and Hurst down the left wing led to cross into the box for the attacking Timlin to slot in and effectively kill the game.
The pitch was first class despite having rugby played on it and a thorough soaking before the start ensured a free flowing pact game from both teams. Murphy obviously tired but for me was Man of the Match.
Our supporters were in good voice throughout


Bentley - 7 - couple of good punches to crosses and yet another clean sheet and one badly sliced kick out
White - 8 - very solid. Little got past him
Sokolik - 7 good partner to Egan
Egan - 8 Great in the air
Coker - 7 - tested a few times in first half
Timlin - 8 - an excellent performance, revelation with his roaming up and down the pitch and a deserved goal
Atkinson - 7 - worked his socks off
Leonard - 7 - worked hard, and long range shot hit the bar in same spot as Rochdale did in first half
Hurst - 8 - excellent going forward, and good linking with midfielders
Corr - 8 effective today with his heading and good positioning and his influence was missed once he went off with the game won
Murphy - 9 MOTM - looks a great future star with pace aligned to a cool head and awareness of team mates, great set up for Corr and his determined run into the penalty box earned him a deserved goal just before half time, tired in second half but got a standing ovation


Subs Straker 7 worked hard
Loza 6 didn't get much of the ball
Prosser 7 came on to beef up left side of defence
Crowd of 400 plus Southend fans cheered throughout and great rapport at end of match with players and management, all in all a cracking match and a fully deserved win against a good Rochdale team going for automatic promotion:smile:
 
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Just got back from the game. What a game, what a 3 points and the support from the 400+ Shrimpers was incredible! Not one poor performance to report on which is also great.

In the first 10 minutes and for about 5 minutes after our first goal Rochdale looked really dangerous and I thought we'd be lucky to get a point but they seemed to crumble after our second.

Bentley - 6 - Didn't have much to do, did what was needed.

White - 7 - Looked very good going forward which hasn't always been the case this season and defensively sound as usual.

Sokolik - 7 - Another solid game from Jakub with a couple of little mistakes in there but can't complain with a clean sheet.

Egan - 7 - Another solid performance from Egan. Not much else to say

Coker - 6 - Let their winger past far too easily a few times in the first half but apart from that not too bad, certainly not his best game.

Atkinson - 7 - Didn't stop running, key pass in the build up to the second.

Leonard - 7 - A few stray passes were the only negatives from another solid Leonard performance. An impressive shot from about 35 yards out hit the bar, really unlucky not to get a goal today.

Murhpy - 9 - MOTM. The key word being pace. A Loza style full debut from Murphy, their defence didn't know how to deal with his pace and trickery.

Timlin - 8 - Another midfielder that didn't stop running. Great volley for his goal and some good link up play.

Hurst - 7 - Much more impressive than in recent weeks. I thought he worked well with Coker and managed to deliver a couple of good crosses.

Corr - 9 - Not a big Corr fan but I have to say what a performance. Right time right place for his goal. His flick on for the third goal shows what he brings to the side that no other striker brings.

Subs:

Strakes - 7 - Got at the Rochdale defence quite well. He could be good to use against as a sub against tiring defences in the next 3 games and the play offs (if we don't somehow throw that away)

Loza - 6 - Didn't really do anything, game was pretty much dead by the time he came on.

Prosser - 6 - Came on and commanded the defence for the ten minutes he was on the pitch, we have three quality centre backs.
 
Thought it was a good game - can't say I am raving about it - perversely the 3rd goal made the remainder of the 2nd half quite dull. Credit to both teams for playing fast moving football. Excellent weather, pitch good, 100% effort, good officials, good goals. We were lucky not to be 1 or 2 goals down but all went our way ........ Rochdale had their chances but didn't take them and we did.

My man of the match - Egan. A class act today and ensured we kept another clean sheet.

2nd goal was fabulous - turning their attack into a goal 20 seconds later. I even liked the Rochdale mascot. There were issues that other opponents will exploit (such as giving the ball away too easily) but such was the atmosphere, panache and style on display that they are best left to another day. :smile:
 
Delighted and proud of the boys....thanks for brightening up my Good Friday. Coybb
 
'debate and give match ratings all you like my fellow shrimpers - we're not good enough
thumbsdown%20smilie%20new%20aug.gif
- league 2 next season - end of ':nope:

Last week I posted the above in the 'post match thread' after the Wimbledon game - today I retract that statement - we absolutely stuffed Rochdale today:thumbsup: - I'm back believing again :smile:
 
Bloody happy with the result, made staying up last night to listen to the game so much better, well after the crap from last week it was. :smile:
 
Great all round performance and Murphy looks very good.Am confident we will get in play offs and as we seem better against the leagues stronger sides if we do make them i think we will have a great chance of promotion.
 
Glad I've got my Burton tickets.....could potentially be a full house at The Hall
Just what kind of a game will Burton be ??? With only two games remaining, almost anything is possible. Hopefully, it won't be a key game for us, where we need a result to get us over the play-off line........unlikely but we are talking about Southend United! It could be a game that is far more important for Burton, with us already assured a play-off place, they could be playing for an automatic promotion place. The more likely is that it will be a low key event with both of us already in the play-offs and just a question of jostling for position. There are advantages in being 4th or 5th but there again it often seems to be the case (Crewe) that 7th place grab the prize.
All things considered, it is the final league game of the season so there should be a good crowd and great atmosphere, whatever there is to play for.
 
Interesting comments about Hogan being injured. Was it me or did that happen as he collided with a Southend player as he chased down a ball after the linesman had flagged and the referee had blown the whistle? It seemed highly avoidable to me and is another indication that at times in football it seems as if a team is cursed with bad luck for a while.
 
If it's Burton in the play offs regardless of the result in the league game I can see it being about as exciting as a training match.
 
Interesting comments about Hogan being injured. Was it me or did that happen as he collided with a Southend player as he chased down a ball after the linesman had flagged and the referee had blown the whistle? It seemed highly avoidable to me and is another indication that at times in football it seems as if a team is cursed with bad luck for a while.

Yes that is exactally what happend we commented at the time.
What did he do that for, he knew the Lino had flagged and his injury was highly avoidable. Well good for us!!
 
I had my usual away day motto of "A really good day spoilt by 90 minutes of crap football" well and truly rammed down my throat yesterday.

A good journey up with a bit of heavy traffic on the M6, to be expected on a Bank Holiday (why can't the Football League organise local games at Christmas & Easter ?), went for a pre-match drink in the Church pub --- only to find it had burnt down.

Popped along the road to the Chip Shop in someone's front room and got chatting to some Rochdale fans who asked me how the match would go. I told them that they would be okay today as we were rubbish last week. How wrong was I.

In the ground The General and his gang of loolalikes on his stag do seemed to enjoy themselves as did all the 400+ visiting fans, me included.

I thought Rochdale were hassled into making many mistakes and our crisp passing and tireless running , especially Mr Timlin, stopped them looking like a top side. Their passing was poor and the keeper seemed uneasy whenever the ball came near him.

Special mention goes to BBBC for his efforts and he will never score an easier goal thanks to a good bit of skill and strength from Murphy who looked a different player from before ( It wasn't his twin brother by any chance?).

We had a couple of close shaves at the start of the match but as time went on Rochdale looked less of a threat and I was fortunate enough to get back to my seat with my Bovril just before the second half started, unlucky to those who didn't see the first 10 seconds of the second half --- you missed a good goal !

The second half petered out from our point of view but we stood firm and it was good to see Luke Prosser appear near the end. not sure how we will play with a back 5 or 6 though.

A journey home that seemed to fly by, probably as I slept a good part of the way on the TZ coach. Home in time to see the goals on SSN.

A good day enhanced by 90 minutes of good football and a massive three points.

Looking forward to Monday, hope we are not disappointed.

"One sexy lino, there's only one sexy lino"
 
Having had time to reflect, not much to add to what appears above. But what was significant was the speed of the counter attacks and the lung-busting runs by players. Timlin, Atko and Lenny all prominent in that regard. Timlin unlucky to see his effort cleared off the line after he sped through to latch onto a poor back pass.

Thought some of Rochdale's players guilty of some cynical fouls. One example was a foot dragged over head of one of our floored players.Ref simply finger-wagged.
 
Thought some of Rochdale's players guilty of some cynical fouls. One example was a foot dragged over head of one of our floored players.Ref simply finger-wagged.

Hand-bags really. I saw it as a good sign as it showed how fustrated and cheesed off their players were getting. Ref made a point of telling the player that he would take no more (arm gesture to say cut it out). All good stuff.

Special mention to the brilliant Rochdale shot after about 20 minutes that dived and weaved and hit the post and came out. Fabulous - and matched by the Leonard shot in the second half that was equally as good.
 
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