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Blue tinted optimist⭐
TEN MAN BLUES SNATCH LATE POINT
Southend battled against all odds to claim a precious point at Roots Hall today which will assist in the fight against relegation.
It may be easy for some to see this as two points dropped but given the manner of last weeks defeat, the midweek furore, the fact that we were behind twice and we also appeared to be playing the officials as well I think the players can take huge comfort from this peformance.
The match started well enough for Southend with some crisp passing football being played and an excellent move in the 8th minute saw Freddy played into the box where he only had the keeper to beat but was denied by a very good save and then by a defenders block.
To rub salt in the wound Leicester went straight down the other end and scored. Leicesters shortest player Porter (he makes JCR look tall!) crossed for the next shortest, Iain Hume, to plant a free header home from 8 yards. Sloppy defending in truth.
Horsfield went close for the visitors soon after with another header and then the ref gave us a clue as to what was coming when he comically booked the striker for falling over, presumably for simulation.
Apart from 2 fine saves by Darryl, there was little of note in the first half and Southend huffed and puffed without working the keeper Henderson again. At half time there was little sign that Southend could get back into the game and Blues had a huge slice of luck in stoppage time when Clarke misjudged a long ball and was outpaced by Hume who raced clear, slotted the ball over Flahavan but also past the post.
The second half was a different ballgame as Southend took control from the off and didn't let Leicester settle at all. As Gower and Maher started to make their mark in the middle, cracks appeared in the Leicester armoury and the linesman Mr Artis had to come to their rescue with a couple of dubious offside flags before Freddy chased a long ball into the box, cut inside and drilled a low shot past Hemderson for a 53rd minute equaliser.
Just prior to this, both linesman and referee were guilty of being influenced by a Leicester player after Campbell-Ryce won the ball with a lunging tackle which was nowhere near his opponent, who nevertheless decided to writhe in agony anyway. The decision to flag and book was only made having seen the player down; initially there was no intention of stopping the game.
Foran was booked on 58 minutes when a Leicester player went down holding his face after an aerial challenge which, from my view, seemed innocuous but it was over the other side of the pitch.
Southend however were in complete control now and Leicester could hardly get the ball out of their half. More dubious offside flags were raised by Mr Artis to prevent Freddy sprinting clear of the defence from positions that looked to be clearly onside. The tackles started get get a little bit tasty as well, with Maher twice being caught late by Johnson with no action being taken by the ref. Then, Bradbury was subbed for McCormack on 75 and Foran moved up front with Freddy. The ground waited with anticipation to see what was probably most peoples preferred strike partnership but they only had a minute to judge them as Foran was sent off for a second bookable offence, this one a tackle from behind which was probably fair enough.
This knocked the stuffing out of Blues momentarily and a draw seemed the most likely outcome. Three minutes later, Freddy chased a long ball in front of the RBS family stand and tussled with the defender, who hauled him to the deck. Amazingly, assistant Mr Artis flagged for a Leicester free kick. From that the ball was pumped forward and eventually found itself to Hammond, who squared the ball for Hume to bundle home. I couldn't see from my angle, but apparently Hammond seemed to be offside by some distance.
Now there's nothing like a sense of injustice to get the Southend players going and amazingly, with 10 men against 14 and just 9 minutes left, Southend rolled their sleeves up and found yet another gear. Rather than Leicester close the game out, the home pressure intensified and Leicester were reduced to further time wasting tactics. On 85 minutes Sodje had a header tipped onto the bar and 2 minutes later made way for Harrold as Blues went 3-3-3 to try and salvage something. Leicester were reduced to time wasting and as full time approached their full back Maybury fell over Francis in front of the RBS and lay prostrate on the ground for ages amid cries of "cheat" from the crowd. This was possibly a touch unfair as the player needed to be stretchered off and as he was being taken around the pitch Southend put the ball into the box and it squirmed across for McCormack to slot home from close range. Cue delerious scenes!
Injury time brought no further reward but the players gave everything and totally deserved not to lose. It may seem as though we have dropped two points but it will be the next four matches in my opinion that determine our fate. All of these are winnable.
Ratings -
Flahavan - 7 - 2 fine saves in the first half to keep us in it and then was a virtual spectator. No chance with goals.
Francis - 7 - Vastly improved performance after a shaky start and contributed well
Hunt - 7 - Decent showing in a strange position and made some great tackles
Clarke - 6.5 - Showed signs of his recent great form but also signs of his early season problems
Sodje - 7 - Dominant enough once he had settled and unlucky not to score late on
JCR - 7.5 - Looking back to his best again after his recent injury
Maher - 7 - Took grip on game in second half and linked well with Gower
Gower - 7.5 - Obviously enjoying his central role and made several incisive passes
Foran - 6.5 - Not as effective as against Palace and perhaps should have thought twice about making a tackle from behind having already been booked
Bradbury - 6 - Little change out of Kisnorbo or Mcauley all afternoon and should have perhaps done better with a second half header
Eastwood - 8 - MOM - Was a handful all afternoon. Worked hard and got us back in it with a signature goal.
Subs -
McCormack - 7.5 - We really miss his drive and spark when he's out. Here's hoping he can stay injury free.
Harrold - 6 - On late for Sodje but had little influence
The officials - 3 - As poor as I have seen. They just got worse and worse. When are we going to get some decisions that go our way, or, more to the point, that just don't get made in our opponents favour?
Southend battled against all odds to claim a precious point at Roots Hall today which will assist in the fight against relegation.
It may be easy for some to see this as two points dropped but given the manner of last weeks defeat, the midweek furore, the fact that we were behind twice and we also appeared to be playing the officials as well I think the players can take huge comfort from this peformance.
The match started well enough for Southend with some crisp passing football being played and an excellent move in the 8th minute saw Freddy played into the box where he only had the keeper to beat but was denied by a very good save and then by a defenders block.
To rub salt in the wound Leicester went straight down the other end and scored. Leicesters shortest player Porter (he makes JCR look tall!) crossed for the next shortest, Iain Hume, to plant a free header home from 8 yards. Sloppy defending in truth.
Horsfield went close for the visitors soon after with another header and then the ref gave us a clue as to what was coming when he comically booked the striker for falling over, presumably for simulation.
Apart from 2 fine saves by Darryl, there was little of note in the first half and Southend huffed and puffed without working the keeper Henderson again. At half time there was little sign that Southend could get back into the game and Blues had a huge slice of luck in stoppage time when Clarke misjudged a long ball and was outpaced by Hume who raced clear, slotted the ball over Flahavan but also past the post.
The second half was a different ballgame as Southend took control from the off and didn't let Leicester settle at all. As Gower and Maher started to make their mark in the middle, cracks appeared in the Leicester armoury and the linesman Mr Artis had to come to their rescue with a couple of dubious offside flags before Freddy chased a long ball into the box, cut inside and drilled a low shot past Hemderson for a 53rd minute equaliser.
Just prior to this, both linesman and referee were guilty of being influenced by a Leicester player after Campbell-Ryce won the ball with a lunging tackle which was nowhere near his opponent, who nevertheless decided to writhe in agony anyway. The decision to flag and book was only made having seen the player down; initially there was no intention of stopping the game.
Foran was booked on 58 minutes when a Leicester player went down holding his face after an aerial challenge which, from my view, seemed innocuous but it was over the other side of the pitch.
Southend however were in complete control now and Leicester could hardly get the ball out of their half. More dubious offside flags were raised by Mr Artis to prevent Freddy sprinting clear of the defence from positions that looked to be clearly onside. The tackles started get get a little bit tasty as well, with Maher twice being caught late by Johnson with no action being taken by the ref. Then, Bradbury was subbed for McCormack on 75 and Foran moved up front with Freddy. The ground waited with anticipation to see what was probably most peoples preferred strike partnership but they only had a minute to judge them as Foran was sent off for a second bookable offence, this one a tackle from behind which was probably fair enough.
This knocked the stuffing out of Blues momentarily and a draw seemed the most likely outcome. Three minutes later, Freddy chased a long ball in front of the RBS family stand and tussled with the defender, who hauled him to the deck. Amazingly, assistant Mr Artis flagged for a Leicester free kick. From that the ball was pumped forward and eventually found itself to Hammond, who squared the ball for Hume to bundle home. I couldn't see from my angle, but apparently Hammond seemed to be offside by some distance.
Now there's nothing like a sense of injustice to get the Southend players going and amazingly, with 10 men against 14 and just 9 minutes left, Southend rolled their sleeves up and found yet another gear. Rather than Leicester close the game out, the home pressure intensified and Leicester were reduced to further time wasting tactics. On 85 minutes Sodje had a header tipped onto the bar and 2 minutes later made way for Harrold as Blues went 3-3-3 to try and salvage something. Leicester were reduced to time wasting and as full time approached their full back Maybury fell over Francis in front of the RBS and lay prostrate on the ground for ages amid cries of "cheat" from the crowd. This was possibly a touch unfair as the player needed to be stretchered off and as he was being taken around the pitch Southend put the ball into the box and it squirmed across for McCormack to slot home from close range. Cue delerious scenes!
Injury time brought no further reward but the players gave everything and totally deserved not to lose. It may seem as though we have dropped two points but it will be the next four matches in my opinion that determine our fate. All of these are winnable.
Ratings -
Flahavan - 7 - 2 fine saves in the first half to keep us in it and then was a virtual spectator. No chance with goals.
Francis - 7 - Vastly improved performance after a shaky start and contributed well
Hunt - 7 - Decent showing in a strange position and made some great tackles
Clarke - 6.5 - Showed signs of his recent great form but also signs of his early season problems
Sodje - 7 - Dominant enough once he had settled and unlucky not to score late on
JCR - 7.5 - Looking back to his best again after his recent injury
Maher - 7 - Took grip on game in second half and linked well with Gower
Gower - 7.5 - Obviously enjoying his central role and made several incisive passes
Foran - 6.5 - Not as effective as against Palace and perhaps should have thought twice about making a tackle from behind having already been booked
Bradbury - 6 - Little change out of Kisnorbo or Mcauley all afternoon and should have perhaps done better with a second half header
Eastwood - 8 - MOM - Was a handful all afternoon. Worked hard and got us back in it with a signature goal.
Subs -
McCormack - 7.5 - We really miss his drive and spark when he's out. Here's hoping he can stay injury free.
Harrold - 6 - On late for Sodje but had little influence
The officials - 3 - As poor as I have seen. They just got worse and worse. When are we going to get some decisions that go our way, or, more to the point, that just don't get made in our opponents favour?
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