Official Match Thread Southend United v Darlington - 4th Round ISUZU FA Trophy

[The Big Dady]

The Official Match Thread brought to you by ShrimperZone.com

So here we all are, our fourteenth home game in the 4th Round of the ISUZU FA Trophy of the 2022/23 season. This is the Dream Team’s 33rd home game since they were appointed Mighty Shrimpers.

Our 14th home match is against Darlington



It is now time for ALL of us to get behind Kevin, Darren, Mark and the team whether you are at Roots Hall, listening on the radio, or listening on Blues TV.

The Dream Team’s Southend United 4th ISUZU FA Trophy home Team against Darlington



Roots Hall is ready for action at 15.00 hrs Saturday 14th January 2023. It looks like we will have light cloud with sunny intervals with a moderate breeze for the game, with an expected temperature of 10°C, but feel like 8°C.





The weather forecast for this evening’s at Roots Hall



Current National League home record after 13 away games

Won 6
Drawn 4
Lost 2
Goals scored 18
Goals conceded 8

League Positions Last Season

13th (2020/22) Vanarama National League North Darlington
13th (2021/22) Vanarama National League Southend United

League Positions Current Season

6th (2022/23) Vanarama National League Southend United
1st (2022/23) Vanarama National League North Darlington

Previous Meetings

Darlington went into administration in 2005 and were kicked out of the EFL, we have never played the new Phoenix club, here are the last 5 meetings of the old Darlington club

Southend United 2-0 Darlington (League Two 29/01/05 Att. 7,358)
Darlington 4-0 Southend United (League Two 02/10/04 Att. 3,901)
Southend United 3-2 Darlington (Division Three 12/04/04 Att. 5,132)
Darlington 0-0 Southend United (Division Three 30/09/03 Att. 4,369)
Southend United 2-0 Darlington (Division Three 05/04/03 Att. 3,053)

Head to Head record

Southend United Wins: 14
Draws: 10
Darlington Wins 9

Current Form

Southend United L L D L D W
Darlington D W W L W L

Come On You Blues!​

 

[The Big Dady]

Managers Pre-match Views​

Darlington

Darlington Manager Alun Armstrong interview with The Northern Echo before the visit to Southend United

Darlington Manager Alun Armstrong


Darlington Manager Alun Armstrong celebrates scoring the third of his three goals for Darlington against Southend in Oct 2004
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Darlington manager Alun Armstrong believes his team is a capable of causing an upset in their fourth round FA Trophy tie at Southend’s Roots Hall on Saturday.

Quakers go to the National League side having won their last seven away games in league and Trophy, and Armstrong says that his players have nothing to lose.

“It’s a free hit as far as we’re concerned,” he said. “Southend are a team from the league above, but it’s a team we can really test ourselves against. This competition is one that’s winnable. That’s why I like staying in this competition, because you can get to Wembley.

“I haven’t decided how we’re going to approach the game yet, whether we’ll go for it or to sit back and absorb. I know what we’ve got in the changing room, and I know we’ll give Southend a game.

“It’s going to be tough, and we’ll have to be at our best. Southend have got some good players, but they may be distracted by the off the field issues that are going on down there. We’ve got to use it to our advantage.”

While Quakers have been rampant away – they’ve scored 14 in their last three away games - they lost their last home game against Chorley by 3-0 last week.

“The lads know that they let themselves down last week, and we’ve gone through the stats which backed up exactly what was said. As much as that was frustrating, it’s gone and done now.

“Now they’ve got to put things right, they’ve got a fantastic opportunity to prove everyone wrong.

“They were miles away from running as much as they usually do. Some of them were 2k or 3k down by as much as they usually do. The biggest thing was the timing of it. We were in possession of the ball a lot more than Chorley before the two incidents in the game last Saturday, then the flow of the game changed.

“It was disappointing that the lads reacted like that. I thought they could have been stronger and stood up to that, but they let themselves down.

“It’s an opportunity now for the players to put themselves in the shop window, and get people taking notice of them. It’s a hell of a reward.

“We’ve really been enjoying our recent games on the road, the results have been fantastic. I’m sure there’ll be a massive turnout of fans and they’ll give us some great backing. For some unknown reason on and off the field, we’ve been flat at home.”

During his playing spell with Quakers, Armstrong scored a hat-trick in only his second home game in a 4-0 rout of Southend in October 2004 at the Arena.

“I’d totally forgotten about that hat trick! It was the only one in my career. I should have had more than three on the day.

“It would be nice for someone to come up trumps and do that this Saturday. We’re more than capable of winning, but we need to be at our best, be right on our game from the off, show the same energy in games when we’ve won recently, be composed at the back, and be well-organised.”

Striker Junior Mondal is ineligible because he played for Marske earlier in the competition, while defender David Wheater is still out injured.

This will be Quakers’ first visit to Roots Hall since they played the Shrimpers in League Two in January 2005, when they lost 2-0. Their last win there was in August 2000 when Craig Liddle – father of Ben – and Lee Nogan scored.

Southend are sixth in the National League, having lost just three times at home in the league.

This is their second season in the league, having been relegated with Grimsby at the end of the 2020-21. They finished mid-table last season, and are having an improved campaign this time round under manager Kevin Maher, but they’ve had financial problems in recent years, and have had issues with HMRC.

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Southend United

Kevin Maher speaks to Blues TV ahead of this afternoon’s game against Darlington

Kevin Maher during his interview on Blues TV​

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Kevin Maher speaks to Southend United OS looking ahead of this afternoon’s game against Darlington

Maher: “I’d love to go to Wembley”​

Blues Head Coach Kevin Maher says his team will approach tomorrow’s Isuzu FA Trophy game with Darlington the same way as they would any other game as Southend look to build on the 3-0 win over Solihull last week.

The convincing victory over the Moors continued the momentum from the New Year’s Day draw at Bromley, and attentions now turn to cup matters, with the potential carrot of a trip to Wembley at the end of the season.

Asked about how important he sees this competition to be, Maher said: “It’s very high up the priorities list for us. We want to do well in it and back up what we did against Boreham Wood in the last round, and follow on from last week in terms of the standard of performance that we produced.

“It’s nice to be back on track and the result matching the performance was good as well because we’ve had games this season where we’ve played well but not been as comfortable with the result. We’ve got to do the same against Darlington on Saturday.

“They can cause you a lot of problems with the attacking threat they’ve got and they’re having a good season. It’s the same preparation that we give any opponent.

“They’ll come with a lot of confidence because they’re used to winning football matches this season. It’s a cup tie at the end of the day and anything can happen.”

The national stadium will host the final in May, and although Maher was involved in three finals while he was a Blues player, he was never been to Wembley as a player or manager.

“The play-off final [2005] was at Cardiff and so were the two LDV finals [2004 and 2005]. I never went to Wembley as a player so I’d love to go there as a manager and it’s something you aspire to. You’ve got to try and take full advantage of that opportunity and give it your upmost.”

During Thursday afternoon’s press conference, Maher was also asked about the strength of the midfield, with the good form of Harry Taylor and Noor Husin over the last few games meaning Wes Fonguck has had a little spell out of the starting XI.

He said: “They’ve all performed right across the team but we do have good options in there. It’s tough to pick who goes in there at times because Wes has done brilliantly when he’s played.

“Harry Taylor and Noor have both had injuries, but they’ve both come back and the competition for places means you’ve got to perform when you go in.”

With the January transfer in full swing, the question was posed as to whether there’s been any interest for any Blues players. Maher put any rumours down to speculation and reinforced his belief that the current squad should stay intact.

“There’s nothing else to think about other than producing on the pitch for anyone at the football club. We can’t focus on speculation.

“I love working with the group of players we’ve got and we want them here for the foreseeable future and beyond. We’re trying to build something here not just for this season but that’s going to last next season and the season after that.”

Only the MidexPRO East Stand is open for tomorrow’s Fourth Round game. Tickets cost £10 for adults, £5 for concessions and £1 for under-8s and you can purchase yours HERE.

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Kevin Maher speaks to Chris Phillips at The Echo ahead of this afternoon’s game against Darlington

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Southend United boss Kevin Maher will be looking to edge closer to his Wembley dream when the Shrimpers host Darlington at Roots Hall tomorrow.

Blues take on the National League North leaders in an FA Trophy fourth round tie.

And Maher will be taking the clash seriously as he strives to get nearer lining up at the home of English football, something that evaded him as a player.

“I’ve never been there as a player and it’s something you definitely aspire to do,” said Maher.

“Obviously we had our finals when I was a player here but we went to Cardiff for them.

“You don’t want to look too far ahead and it’s a tough one on Saturday.

“But any player or manager wants to get to Wembley and the chances don’t come around too often so when they do you try and take full advantage.

“We’ll be giving it our upmost to get there so we’re definitely taking it seriously and want to do well in the Trophy.”

The Shrimpers - who are sixth in the National League - beat Solihull Moors 3-0 at Roots Hall last weekend.

And Maher is looking to build on the strong display.

“We want to follow on from last week in terms of the standard of performance we produced,” said the Blues boss.

“If we can do that then let’s see what the result comes.”

However, Darlington will also be heading into the contest in a confident frame of mind.

The Quakers were wound up in the High Court back in 2012 before a new club was formed and has continued to rise back up the leagues.

That momentum has seen Alun Armstrong’s side score 50 goals in 26 league games so far this season.

And Maher knows this weekend’s match will be far from straight forward.

“We will have to be on top of our game against Darlington if we are to get through,” said Maher.

“They can cause you a lot of problems in terms of the attacking threat they’ve got.

“They score a lot of goals and they’re having a good season.

“They will come with a lot of confidence because they’re used to winning football matches.

“It’s a cup tie and anything can happen but the lads should be buoyed by their last performance.”

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Kevin Maher speaks to Chris Phillips at The Echo about team selection ahead of this afternoon’s game against Darlington

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Southend United right-wing back Gus Scott-Morriss is back running but will not feature against Darlington this weekend.

Scott-Morriss has missed Blues’ last three games after his appendix removed.

And Shrimpers boss Kevin Maher confirmed Scott-Morriss is now stepping up his return to action.

“Gus has been back running on the grass with the physio and Stef (Russo),” said Maher.

“He’s doing OK to be fair to him and it was keyhole surgery he had which helps.”

Goalkeepers Steve Arnold (hip) and Collin Andeng Ndi (hamstring) are both still sidelined.

The duo trained on the pitch ahead of Saturday’s 3-0 win against Solihull Moors and are also starting to edge closer to coming back.

But Maher does not feel a return is imminent for either shot-stopper.

“There’s still a way to go and Collin is probably a bit ahead of Arnie,” said Maher.

“Arnie is seeing a specialist today just to check where he is strength wise and we will have more news on what he can do moving forward from that too.

“Collin will push on again next week and fingers crossed they can both make good progress.”

Striker Jake Hyde – who has been out since late October with a hamstring problem – will also be missing again this weekend.

But the forward joined in with some of Thursday’s training session at Boots & Laces.

“Hydey dipped into a bit of training with us which is pleasing,” said Maher.

“He will need to train more before being ready for selection.”

However, Dan Mooney is still not ready to return to training.

“Moons hasn’t been able to train yet and he’s still got some swelling on his knee,” said Maher.

“We’re trying to make sure that goes down before he’s back in team training.”

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Come On You Blues!​

 

[The Big Dady]

Big Preview

Southend United v Darlington


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Overview

Southend Isuzu FA Trophy journey continues tomorrow, with Darlington the opposition at the fourth-round stage.

Blues eased past Boreham Wood in the previous round, and have since started 2023 in a good way, with a useful point away to Bromley followed by one of the best performances of the season against Solihull Moors.

It’s the first game this campaign against a non-National League outfit, as National League North leaders Darlington come to town.

With a potential trip to Wembley at the end of the season, both sides will be keen to progress to the last 16, and the Quakers are sure to provide a tough test.

The opposition

The current Darlington FC was initially called Darlington 1883 after they were formed in 2012. That came as a result of the old club folding due to financial issues that weren’t helped by the construction of a 25,000-seat stadium.

The initial outfit spent 67 years in the Football League between 1921 and 1988, and a further 32 until 2010 after returning to Division 4 immediately in 1989/90.

Having gone bust at the end of the 2011/12 campaign, which saw them suffer a second relegation in three years, Darlington have slowly built their way back up.

They quickly moved up to the National League North courtesy of three quickfire promotions, but have since stalled slightly.

That was until this season, which sees the Quakers at the summit of the sixth tier ahead of a clutch of teams that are all tightly-packed and have games in hand on Darlington.

Alun Armstrong’s men went on a six-game league winning run in the autumn which propelled them up the division, and although they’ve lost two of their last three, they remain above Brackley Town on goal difference.

In their squad are experienced figures such as David Wheater and Danny Rose, with Jacob Hazel and Jack Lambert in good form, as well as top scorer Mark Beck, who played against Blues in League Two for Harrogate.

Previous meetings

Blues met the old Darlington on 35 occasions, first in the 1967/68 campaign, where the sides played three times. Southend didn’t win any of those, but have since had the upper hand.

The Shrimpers have won their last two home games against the Quakers, 3-2 in April 2004 and 2-0 in January 2005 with current First-Team Coach Mark Bentley on the scoresheet on both occasions.

The overall record reads 14 wins for Blues, 10 draws and nine Darlington wins.

From the boss

“This competition is very high up the priorities list for us,” said Maher pre-match.

“We want to do well in it and back up what we did against Boreham Wood in the last round, and follow on from last week in terms of the standard of performance that we produced.

“It’s nice to be back on track and the result matching the performance was good as well because we’ve had games this season where we’ve played well but not been as comfortable with the result.

“We’ve got to do the same against Darlington on Saturday. They’ll come with a lot of confidence because they’re used to winning football matches this season.

“It’s a cup tie at the end of the day and anything can happen.”

Blues team news

Steve Arnold and Collin Andeng Ndi continue to work their way back, while Gus Scott-Morriss, Jake Hyde and Dan Mooney remain unavailable.

For the full team news, click here.

Ref watch

Sam Mulhall takes charge of his second Southend game this season after the 1-0 win over Yeovil in October in which he sent off Glovers man Gime Touré.

He has refereed nine National League fixtures in 2022/23, showing 30 yellow cards and three red cards in all.

Mulhall’s assistants are David Harrison and Jonathon Block, and the fourth official is Nathan Oakes.

Tickets

Tickets are selling fast, with only the MidexPRO East Stand open for this fixture.

The best way to purchase is online here. You can also buy in person at the ticket office or by calling 01702 304050 and selecting option one. The ticket office opens at 10am on matchday.

Tickets cost £10 for adults, £5 for concessions (60+, student, 9-22, emergency services) and £1 for a child (8 and under).

Elsewhere in the FA Trophy

The Isuzu FA Trophy weekend is split over three days, as Vanarama National League top two Notts County and Wrexham play on Sunday and Friday respectively.

The Dragons take on Altrincham this evening, with the Magpies hosting Maidstone on Sunday. Elsewhere, there are two games that see National League clubs take on teams from the seventh tier – Harrow Borough v FC Halifax Town and Aldershot Town v Leiston.

At least four clubs from outside the National League are guaranteed to be in the last 16. The fourth-round line-up is as follows.

Altrincham v Wrexham (Friday 19:45)
Gateshead v Oldham Athletic
Dorking Wanderers v Kidderminster Harriers
Bracknell Town v Bath City
Harrow Borough v FC Halifax Town
Dagenham & Redbridge v Maidenhead United
Solihull Moors v Barnet
Torquay United v Taunton Town
Aldershot Town v Leiston
Banbury United v Coalville Town
Eastleigh v Braintree Town
Hungerford Town v Tamworth
York City v Chelmsford City
Farsley Celtic v Marske United
Notts County v Maidstone United (Sunday 15:00)

How to follow

Blues fans unable to attend Roots Hall will still be able to follow all the live action by subscribing to Blues TV where you’ll get live match commentary from the BBC Essex team from all first-team matches this season.

Blues TV costs £4.49 per month or a one-off cost of £45 for the season, with your subscription not only giving you match commentary, but also exclusive access to extended match highlights, full pre-match press conferences, interviews, features and more.

Another option is to follow live minute-by-minute updates on social media via the club’s official Twitter account by following @SUFCRootsHall, which will ensure you get all the latest news and more throughout the 2022/23 season.

Matchday programme

A slimmed-down 24 page programme, costing £1.50, will be available to buy from programme sellers outside the stadium at the programme hut, main gate off Victoria Avenue and the West Stand entrance.

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BBC ESSEX Radio

BBC Essex Link

This FA Trophy game is not being streamed

Come On You Blues!​

 

[The Big Dady]

How Darlington have survived since last playing Southend United way back in 2005 and it's fan lead recovery since going into administration.

Chris Phillips at the Echo talks to Darlington supporter David Steel

It’s been an eventful few years for Darlington since they last played Southend back in 2005. What led to the club being wound up and the new one forming and how tough was that time?

"It was a very tough time, but it needed to happen given the years and events that preceded it.

"Following moving from the club’s original home of Feethams in 2003 to the Arena (a hastily-built 25,000 all-seater stadium by then-owner George Reynolds), the club entered administration three times across a 12-year period, the final time being in early-2012.

"We had been relegated from the Football League to the National League in 2010 and, despite a decent season (we won the FA Trophy at Wembley in 2011), the writing was on the wall come the start of the 2011/12 season, both on and off-the-pitch.

"Fans' money effectively kept the club from being liquidated in the first few months of 2012 following that third administration, but we couldn’t stop the club from being wound up in the High Court.

"We were expelled from the FA, demoted from the National League to the Northern League, had no home and no playing staff.

"We literally had to start again, at the very bottom of the footballing pyramid, build a squad from scratch and groundshare with Bishop Auckland.

"The club had been acquired by our fans across this time and that was the saving grace.

"We haven’t looked back, to be honest."

The club seem to be back in a good place now. How is it being run?

"I’ve enjoyed the last 10/11 years as a Darlo fan since that last administration as much as any other period since I first started going to games in late-1989.

"We are fan-owned, with around 1,225 fan owners holding a 87 per cent majority stake in the club.

"I sit as Vice Chair on the Darlington Football Club Supporter’s Group (DFCSG) board that acts as the vehicle between the fan owners and the club.

"We are a sustainable, democratic and forward-thinking football club.

"The fans have raised just shy of £2million since 2012 and, every summer, raise between £100,000 and £140,000 specifically towards the manager’s playing budget for the coming season.

"We are all so, so proud of the fact that this is *our* club; by the fans, for the fans.

"On the pitch, we achieved three promotions in the first four seasons as a fan-owned club.

"We finished in the play-off positions of the National League North in 2016/17, but a ground grading technicality prevented us from being able to compete in them.

"Since then, we have consolidated our place in that league.

"We are currently well and truly in the promotion hunt for the National League, sat atop the National League North, just two promotions from the Football League."

You’re top of the league right now. How confident are you of promotion?

"At the start of the season the collective aim was to finish in the play-off positions and go from there.

"As mentioned, we’re currently top of the table, have only suffered three defeats in our last 14 games and we’ve won seven away games in a row, albeit some teams just below us (Kings Lynn and AFC Fylde in particular) have a number of games in hand on us, so that will be a challenge.

"That said, we are still nine points clear of seventh place and 11 points clear of eighth place, so without jinxing anything it would take an almighty reversal for us not to finish inside the play-off spots at the very least this season, I think.

"Then we’ll see what happens."

How important is the FA Trophy for Darlington?

"Very. We’ve won it before in 2011, beating Mansfield 1-0 at Wembley in the very last minute of extra time, thanks to a Chris Senior header.

"Because every penny counts, cup runs are just as much a vital source of income as they are fun to watch as a fan.

"We made the FA Cup rounds one and two in seasons 2019/20 and 2020/21 respectively and both were great ‘money-spinners’ for the club thanks to competition prize money, TV money and attendances.

"In the last round of the FA Trophy, we beat local rivals Spennymoor 3-1 away and the first half was as good as we’ve played all season.

"Saturday will be interesting as we’re excellent away from home this season and we do like a cup upset."

Who is the danger man?

"We are a very strong unit from front-to-back, to be honest, but I’d suggest that Southend fans should worry about our front four.

"Playmaker Jack Lambert has ridiculous ability and is currently being scouted by FL clubs.

"A recent Tik-Tok video of him hitting the bar away at Hereford from around 70/75 yards went viral.

"Winger Kaine Felix has pace to burn and a great cross on him, target man Mark Beck is the NLN’s top scorer with 15 league goals this season (18 in total) and his strike partner Jacob Hazel is a real thorn in defender’s sides and lethal inside the box.

"Between them Lambert, Felix, Beck and Hazel have scored 47 goals for us this season. Watch out!"

What’s the team news?

"Ahh, now that would be telling!"

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[The Big Dady]

Darlington Team

 

[Blue Yonder]

Looks like we're going for it this year

 

[Murkey_Mouse]

It’s be a joke if called off, I have seen the pitch at Root Hall, nothing’s wrong with it.

 

[lreed567]

Glad to see us going for it, makes sense aswell to keep going, and another week till the next game, hyde on bench too so hopefully a good second half of the season with alot of players coming back

 

[brigg blue]

Hobson, Lomas, Murphy & Hyde on the bench.

Our squads looking pretty strong we just need our keepers back

 

[GBJ]

The goal mouth looks very wet

*ooh err missus

 

[Cricko]

Surely they could brush that off?

 

[Barling Magna]

Surely they could brush that off?

I would have thought so. Fork and brush needed.....

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Official team sheets when you can please Big Daddy.

 

[The Big Dady]

Darlington's goalkeeper is warming up

 

[The Big Dady]

Official team sheets when you can please Big Daddy.

Here you go

 

[Fred]

Is there extra time/ penalties if needed??

 

[Shrimpergonzo]

Is there extra time/ penalties if needed??

Straight to pens, I think

 

[overseas shrimper]

Commentary still down as 'coming up'!

 

[LBBlue]

I’ve got it now —-in Morocco ….

 

[The Big Dady]

Darlington Fans starting to make their way into the North Bank