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Blue tinted optimist⭐
ST.VALENTINES DAY MASSACRE AS BEES BASH BLUES
Southends unbeaten run came to an abrupt end at Griffin Park as Brentford exacted revenge for the 4-1 drubbing dished out to them at the Hall a few weeks back.
That scintillating performance seemed a million miles away as Southend were second best in all departments and can have no complaints at the result.
Yet it could have been so different. Mark Gower had the first chance of the evening on 4 minutes, cutting in from the right and hitting a piledriver that Nelson could only parry but there was no forward following up.
After that it was all Brentford as Southend were forced to endure immense pressure playing into a stiff wind. Brentford were quicker to the ball and the visiting midfield were all subdued, leaving the back four to take the strain. A Jupp error allowed the ball to be played into the box and Rankine should have scored but his miscued shot bounced up and hit Gayle on the arm.
Just when it seemed Southend had weathered the storm, disaster struck. Sodje, Jupp and Barrett were passing it across the back, looking for options. No-one was making themselves available, and Barrett was caught in possession on the halfway line by Pratley who laid the ball into the box for Rankine. Again he miscued, but his shot (which was going wide) hit first Barrett and then Jupp to end up in the net, Duncan being credited with the own goal.
Southend failed to inject more urgency in their game and were now really under the cosh. Flahavan made one exceptional save onto the crossbar, and some sterling blocking and tackling stopped Brentford increasing their lead. Sam Sodje headed goalwards from a long throw and Flahavan acrobatically tipped over. There then followed a spell of 3 consecutive corners before the final one saw Gayle head home at the near post from a very good delivery indeed. 2-0.
Blues held out until half time but did have a goal disallowed, when Guttridge and Eastwood combined but Freddy was offside.
The second half saw Southend now with the wind at their backs and almost immediately they forced their first corner. However, the delivery was poor and, as on so many other occasions, it failed to beat the first man. Brentford contained Southend fairly easily as the visitors were not allowed any time on the ball at all. It was only with about 15 minutes to go that Southend showed any real urgency, when Guttridge finished a fine move by shooting into the side netting but was ruled offside.
Goater won his first ball all evening and flicked on for Freddy Eastwood with 10 left, but Eastwoods shot from 12 yards hit the post.
Mitchell Cole, who had come on for the totally ineffective Bentley, flattered to deceive and again his delivery failed to beat the first man on several occasions.
The match started to get niggly and the ref booked Guttridge, Prior and Eastwood. In truth, how Maher stayed out of the book is a mystery as he angrily clattered one of their midfield having made no attempt to play the ball.
Despite all the huff and puff, a Blues goal never looked likely and it was Brentford who came closest to a third when a cleverly worked free kick thudded against the bar from 25 yards.
In short, Brentford made us look as poor as we made them look a few weeks back. We deserved nothing from the game and ended up with just that.
Finally, the crowd. The Brentford support was phenomenal from all 3 sides - vocal, loud and passionate. In contrast, and most unusually, the Southend contingent was not so much quiet as silent. The very few attempts to get something going were half-hearted and petered out quickly. All in all, not a good night whatever way you look at it, except for the fact that some of the other results went our way so it could have been so much worse.
Ratings -
Flahavan - 8 - MOM - Couldn't be faulted for either goal and made 3 or 4 excellent saves
Jupp - 6 - Was unlucky with the own goal but made a few other errors as well
Barrett - 5 - His mistake cost the first goal. Looked uncomfortable at left back
Prior - 6 - Generally solid but a comedy moment late on when he fell over the ball and then was lucky to stay onthe pitch when he brought the attacker down
Sodje - 6.5 - Possibly the pick of a poor defence
Gower - 7 - Pick of the midfield
Maher - 6.5 - Lucky to remain on pitch and allowed frustrations to get the better of him
Guttridge - 6.5 - Tried hard but couldn't get anything going
Bentley - 4 - Totally anonymous - worst performance since he joined
Goater - 5 - Very poor and a shadow of his first half v Rotherham
Eastwood - 7.5 - Battled hard and worked his socks off, woodwork denied him a goal. One of very few to come out with any credit.
Subs -
Cole - 6 - Got into some good positions but cannot cross
Bradbury - 6 - Tough game to come into and had little impact
The ref - 5 - Gave us very little and in first 80 mins evry marginal decision went against us
The Southend crowd - 4 - So quiet we made the 1700-odd sound like 17. I've not come across such a subdued atmosphere before.
The Brentford crowd - 10 - all 3 sides made masses of noise and acted as a 12th man for them. Phenomenal support.
The floodlights - 2 - bloody appalling. The pitch was covered in dark patches and I'd love to know what it felt like to play in such an uneven light
Southends unbeaten run came to an abrupt end at Griffin Park as Brentford exacted revenge for the 4-1 drubbing dished out to them at the Hall a few weeks back.
That scintillating performance seemed a million miles away as Southend were second best in all departments and can have no complaints at the result.
Yet it could have been so different. Mark Gower had the first chance of the evening on 4 minutes, cutting in from the right and hitting a piledriver that Nelson could only parry but there was no forward following up.
After that it was all Brentford as Southend were forced to endure immense pressure playing into a stiff wind. Brentford were quicker to the ball and the visiting midfield were all subdued, leaving the back four to take the strain. A Jupp error allowed the ball to be played into the box and Rankine should have scored but his miscued shot bounced up and hit Gayle on the arm.
Just when it seemed Southend had weathered the storm, disaster struck. Sodje, Jupp and Barrett were passing it across the back, looking for options. No-one was making themselves available, and Barrett was caught in possession on the halfway line by Pratley who laid the ball into the box for Rankine. Again he miscued, but his shot (which was going wide) hit first Barrett and then Jupp to end up in the net, Duncan being credited with the own goal.
Southend failed to inject more urgency in their game and were now really under the cosh. Flahavan made one exceptional save onto the crossbar, and some sterling blocking and tackling stopped Brentford increasing their lead. Sam Sodje headed goalwards from a long throw and Flahavan acrobatically tipped over. There then followed a spell of 3 consecutive corners before the final one saw Gayle head home at the near post from a very good delivery indeed. 2-0.
Blues held out until half time but did have a goal disallowed, when Guttridge and Eastwood combined but Freddy was offside.
The second half saw Southend now with the wind at their backs and almost immediately they forced their first corner. However, the delivery was poor and, as on so many other occasions, it failed to beat the first man. Brentford contained Southend fairly easily as the visitors were not allowed any time on the ball at all. It was only with about 15 minutes to go that Southend showed any real urgency, when Guttridge finished a fine move by shooting into the side netting but was ruled offside.
Goater won his first ball all evening and flicked on for Freddy Eastwood with 10 left, but Eastwoods shot from 12 yards hit the post.
Mitchell Cole, who had come on for the totally ineffective Bentley, flattered to deceive and again his delivery failed to beat the first man on several occasions.
The match started to get niggly and the ref booked Guttridge, Prior and Eastwood. In truth, how Maher stayed out of the book is a mystery as he angrily clattered one of their midfield having made no attempt to play the ball.
Despite all the huff and puff, a Blues goal never looked likely and it was Brentford who came closest to a third when a cleverly worked free kick thudded against the bar from 25 yards.
In short, Brentford made us look as poor as we made them look a few weeks back. We deserved nothing from the game and ended up with just that.
Finally, the crowd. The Brentford support was phenomenal from all 3 sides - vocal, loud and passionate. In contrast, and most unusually, the Southend contingent was not so much quiet as silent. The very few attempts to get something going were half-hearted and petered out quickly. All in all, not a good night whatever way you look at it, except for the fact that some of the other results went our way so it could have been so much worse.
Ratings -
Flahavan - 8 - MOM - Couldn't be faulted for either goal and made 3 or 4 excellent saves
Jupp - 6 - Was unlucky with the own goal but made a few other errors as well
Barrett - 5 - His mistake cost the first goal. Looked uncomfortable at left back
Prior - 6 - Generally solid but a comedy moment late on when he fell over the ball and then was lucky to stay onthe pitch when he brought the attacker down
Sodje - 6.5 - Possibly the pick of a poor defence
Gower - 7 - Pick of the midfield
Maher - 6.5 - Lucky to remain on pitch and allowed frustrations to get the better of him
Guttridge - 6.5 - Tried hard but couldn't get anything going
Bentley - 4 - Totally anonymous - worst performance since he joined
Goater - 5 - Very poor and a shadow of his first half v Rotherham
Eastwood - 7.5 - Battled hard and worked his socks off, woodwork denied him a goal. One of very few to come out with any credit.
Subs -
Cole - 6 - Got into some good positions but cannot cross
Bradbury - 6 - Tough game to come into and had little impact
The ref - 5 - Gave us very little and in first 80 mins evry marginal decision went against us
The Southend crowd - 4 - So quiet we made the 1700-odd sound like 17. I've not come across such a subdued atmosphere before.
The Brentford crowd - 10 - all 3 sides made masses of noise and acted as a 12th man for them. Phenomenal support.
The floodlights - 2 - bloody appalling. The pitch was covered in dark patches and I'd love to know what it felt like to play in such an uneven light