Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 1-0 Blackpool

ADAM Thompson’s first goal in a Southend United shirt secured the Shrimpers a 1-0 win against Blackpool at Roots Hall this afternoon.

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Anyone know the crowd today

Between Thompson & Payne for MOTM for me. Payne absolutely ran the show in midfield and didn't put a foot wrong, and Thompson looked assured at the back and turned that dangerous attack from them into the winning goal.

Good performance, shame Hurst couldn't take either of his golden chances though, hard to keep him in the side if he doesn't take chances like that.

What an absolutely awful game. Awful in terms of entertainment and quality, but a good result in tough conditions for us.

Thompson did superbly to start and finish the move that led to our goal, and it looked as though it was coming. Hurst could have had 2 in the first half but has lost the confidence and urgency he used to have which would have seen him bury them both. Defensively pretty solid, Adam Barrett is an absolute rock. Payne offered all of the creativity going forwards and Worrall made some good deliveries late on. They were poor, playing for a draw and lacked quality, can see why they are where they are in the league.

Bentley 7 Dealt with the wind well but didn't have much else to do
White 6.5 First half was awful whenever he had to pass the ball forwards and they seemed to target him and Thompson but he was solid
Thompson 7 Could tell he's lacked match practise, but that goal was superb from start to finish
Barrett 7.5 Absolute rock, nothing got past him
Coker 6.5 Got forward but not his usual threat, solid defensively as well
Hurst 6.5 Showed glimpses of his former self but majorly lacking in confidence and urgency
Leonard 7 Continued his improved performances and dominated the midfield
Atkinson 6 Huffed and puffed with no real impact, watch him, he moves at one pace with no variation for the whole 90 minutes
Worrall 7 Grew into the game and had more an impact as they tired
Payne 7 Source of creativity, didn't let them bully him and was impressive
Mooney 6 No movement, not a target man, just doesn't really fit our system

Subs
Pigott 6.5 Chased things but didn't do much else
Rea - No time to make an impact

Another valuable three points in tough conditions.

Good to see that there wasn’t too much adrenalin expended on the match thread. There wasn’t too much action happening at Roots Hall either from two poor sides, with Southend being marginally ahead on goals and points. You can see why Blackpool are in the bottom four, they seriously lack confidence and an eye for goal.

I predicted a goal fest, and was duly rewarded with one goal. Still, I’m not complaining as it was Thompson with his head that duly obliged, and three points achieved and none conceded. Nobody had a particularly bad game, but neither did anyone set the game on fire. So I’m a bit stuffed for highlights. Jack ran his socks off, Hurst is starting to regain some consistency and form and it was bloody cold there today. I’m sure others will give more lurid detail, but I’ll settle for a win and no more injuries that I’m aware of with Oldham heaving into view on Tuesday.

Take that. Never gunna be a thriller with those 2 teams! We huffed and puffed today and all the chances fell to Hurst! Thompson was excellent - even his distribution was much better than Sheff and Rovers and fully derserved the goal he started and finished!

Rootshallbloke said:

I’m sure others will give more lurid detail, but I’ll settle for a win and no more injuries that I’m aware of with Oldham heaving into view on Tuesday.

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Exactly ! Some will probably moan that it wasn't very entertaining, but with another game on Tuesday, we just needed 3pts without having to over stretch ourselves.

Payne was brilliant again today and earning a permanent starting berth. He gets me off my seat which is rare at this place. Worrall was effective, as was Hurst first half. Not sure why Atkinson being criticised above - I thought he did well. Typical late November performance... Cold cold and edgy. Fitness and balls won it though. Tougher opposition to come especially the next opposition to Roots Hall.

Payne is a joy to watch when he is in full flow with the ball at his feet. Found space in impossibly difficult situations.

Felt for Kevan Hurst who was ironically clapped off by a bunch of idiots near me in the South Upper upon the substitution being announced - I vented my thoughts toward them, but nobody else seemed particularly offended.

WickfordShrimper said:

Anyone know the crowd today

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Some of them , but not all

Atkinson and Thommo were the stand out players for us.
Payne got through a lot of work, but Blackpool, who I thought were poor on the ball but worked hard when we had it, put 2 men on him and gradually forced him deeper, they seemed to double up on anyone who got the ball and the only time we got free was when we moved Iit quickly.
I thought the two defences played to the conditions better than the forwards, both teams played quite a high line and it meant that for long periods the game was condensed in the middle third.

WickfordShrimper said:

Anyone know the crowd today

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Nope crowd not given out at the game and nowhere to be found on any other site.

Thommo did really well for the goal, good interception , strong run into space, good distrubution then a controlled late run to attack the cross. Kept the ball in front of him all the way, which allowed him to attack the cross despite it moving in the wind, as opposed to the defender , and the keeper who anticipated its flight and got caught out

Not a very exciting game, and has already been said in was bl**dy freezing.

I thought that our buildup play was too slow and it was like watching paint dry at times. Seemed like the only time we broke away fast resulted in Adam Thompson's superb goal. We really need to work on our set pieces too!

Hurst has definately lost his confidence and pace, he would have buried the two chances that he had two seasons ago and he was robbed of the ball a few times too as being too slow also.

Will take the result though, and you only have to look at Col U to thank your blessings and see how well we have settled into this division.

1-0 to the Arse....oh hang on - to the Blues :smile:

manor15 said:

What an absolutely awful game. Awful in terms of entertainment and quality, but a good result in tough conditions for us.

Thompson did superbly to start and finish the move that led to our goal, and it looked as though it was coming. Hurst could have had 2 in the first half but has lost the confidence and urgency he used to have which would have seen him bury them both. Defensively pretty solid, Adam Barrett is an absolute rock. Payne offered all of the creativity going forwards and Worrall made some good deliveries late on. They were poor, playing for a draw and lacked quality, can see why they are where they are in the league.

Bentley 7 Dealt with the wind well but didn't have much else to do
White 6.5 First half was awful whenever he had to pass the ball forwards and they seemed to target him and Thompson but he was solid
Thompson 7 Could tell he's lacked match practise, but that goal was superb from start to finish
Barrett 7.5 Absolute rock, nothing got past him
Coker 6.5 Got forward but not his usual threat, solid defensively as well
Hurst 6.5 Showed glimpses of his former self but majorly lacking in confidence and urgency
Leonard 7 Continued his improved performances and dominated the midfield
Atkinson 6 Huffed and puffed with no real impact, watch him, he moves at one pace with no variation for the whole 90 minutes
Worrall 7 Grew into the game and had more an impact as they tired
Payne 7 Source of creativity, didn't let them bully him and was impressive
Mooney 6 No movement, not a target man, just doesn't really fit our system

Subs
Pigott 6.5 Chased things but didn't do much else
Rea - No time to make an impact

Another valuable three points in tough conditions.

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Can't agree regarding Atko. Couple of really good tackles, constantly in the faces of the Blackpool players and made the pass of the match. Midway in the second half, received the ball 30 odd yards out with a Blackpool player right in front of him. Dropped his shoulder one way, then the other way, totally confusing the Blackpool player. Atko then pushed to his right before playing an exquisitely weighted ball between 2 Blackpool defenders that John White met before putting in a great cross that we so nearly scored from. Great performance from Atko and worthy of his place

davewebbsbrain said:

Can't agree regarding Atko. Couple of really good tackles, constantly in the faces of the Blackpool players and made the pass of the match. Midway in the second half, received the ball 30 odd yards out with a Blackpool player right in front of him. Dropped his shoulder one way, then the other way, totally confusing the Blackpool player. Atko then pushed to his right before playing an exquisitely weighted ball between 2 Blackpool defenders that John White met before putting in a great cross that we so nearly scored from. Great performance from Atko and worthy of his place

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Agree totally, much criticised and underrated .

Blues 'n' twos said:

Agree totally, much criticised and underrated .

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Agreed here also, MOTM for me today

I'm so pleased people are disagreeing with criticism given to Atkinson. He was my man of the match, played some brilliant passes forward, tracked back and tackled well too.

Payne played well and got a full 94 minutes, which can only be a positive.

Thompson started and ended the move that won us the game and was solid throughout, also noticed he was more vocal today than I saw before his injury.

Hurst played well, but I'm sure he will be disappointed he didn't put at least one away in the first half, still got in to good positions and looks like he's getting back to his best. Quick mention to some idiots who decided to ironically cheer as his name was said for the substitution, right in the corner where he was.

As I was walking to the game with the wind in my face I knew it wouldn't be a game the spectator would enjoy and am pleased we were able to deal with the conditions, but Blackpool really did offer very little threat and can see them in league two next season.

In the conditions I actually thought it was a pretty reasonable game- I enjoyed it (there I've said it..)

I thought we tried to play football and having Worrall, Hurst and Payne on the pitch gave us a bit of cleverness on the ball and I thought they interchanged pretty well and no-one played badly

I would like to mention the following
Payne- very good indeed, as good as I have seen him over 90 mins
Hurst- not 100% back to his best (particularly finishing) but generally he put in a good performance and probably deserves to start next game
Atkinson- played well, works hard was actually good on the ball today and good defensively
Back 4 good in difficult conditions
We should have won by more perhaps but still just 3 points from the playoffs with basically the same team from last year