Southend 1st XI 4 - 1 Maldon & Little Baddow 2nd XI
"Southend win tense battle of Chelmsford re-match"
Captain Neil "Strawberry" Utton was rewarded with three points after reshuffling his team for the match against Maldon & Little Baddow. "Maddow" scored first against the run of play when they got a lucky break from a short corner which led to a tap in and we all thought it wasn't to be our day. A Dave Robeson hopeful cross was met by Southend defender Paul Mellish running in at the far post to score the equaliser. This was Mellish's first ever league goal for the club. Southend were on top for most of the half but the teams went into half time level thanks manly to some good defending from Southend forward Chris Crowhurst and the Maddow rearguard.
In the second half Southend dominated the game and could have scored more goals. eventually though the pressure told and Southend got the goals they needed from Crowhurst (finally), Arnold (Penalty flick - good decision Strawberry to drop Nobby from the flicks, you must have known Keith wouldn't miss) and Phil Legget (another trademark goal from a yard - does he score any other sort).
In the end Southend were pleased to escape the potential banana skin fixture with the three points and no cards (only just Strawbs).
Team - Christie, Arnold, Mellish, Harvey P, Hayman, Reynolds, Robeson, Crompton, Utton, Legget, Chrowhurst, Danbrook.
Scorers - Mellish, Crowhurst, Arnold, Legget
Man of the Match - Dave Robeson
Sudbury 2nd XI 2 - 4 Southend 2nd XI
"McPhee has lucky escape"
Southend maintained their position at the top of the East League Division 5SE indeed stretching their lead to 5 points following Chelmsford’s home draw against Harlow. However, It did not look promising for the travelling side as the captain arrived to discover that one player (JAMIE MCPHEE!!!) had not read his bulletin and believed it to be a 2:30 pushback not 11:30. This following a withdrawal late in the week meant that Southend played the entire match with ONLY 10 players (BECAUSE JAMIE DIDN'T TURN UP). Luckily for Jamie despite the lack of numbers (a fact I’m still convinced that the opposition failed to notice at any point during the game!) Southend dominated the early exchanges and deservedly took the lead on 10 minutes when the captain, Druce, slotted home following a fine run and cross by Puncher. The lead though was short lived as Sudbury capitalised on an uncharacteristic mistake by the usually dependable Etheridge. Having conceded so soon after going in front and with the one-man disadvantage most teams might have crumbled but this Southend team is made of much sterner stuff. They pushed forward relentlessly, with Walsh working tirelessly in his lone role up front, so it was not unexpected that they regained the lead after a fine solo run and shot from a tight angle by the blossoming Jones.
The second half saw Sudbury push forward as Southend not unexpectedly began to tire but, like ships in a storm, repeatedly crashed against the rocks that were the Southend defence. Despite the opposition pushing forward Southend still managed numerous breaks, seamlessly sweeping from defence to attack. Druce picked up his second of the day from a penalty corner, drilling it low and hard to the keeper’s left as he remained on his feet waiting for the flick and Morgan completed Southend’s scoring again following a fine solo run and shot. Sudbury’s consolation second came from a penalty corner, the last hit of the match.
Whilst all who played can consider themselves 'man of the match' special praise must go to, I’m sorry folks, James “Ginger” Morgan filling in at left half and playing as if he was born to that position.
Team : M Scott, L Danbrook, M Watson, J Etheridge, J Morgan, G Cheeseman, K Druce, B Puncher, S Jones, M Walsh
At home : J McPhee
Jamie commented after the game "I am a complete twat and I apologise to all of my team mates. Thank god they went and did the business, if any of them see me in the bar I will buy them a beer to make up for it. I will also understand completely if I am dropped into the 3rd or 4th team for next week (if they will let me in the team). I will see everyone on time next week at Canvey for a 2.15 push back (if selected)".
Southend 3rd XI 6 - 1 Brentwood 6th XI
"Styles shows Strawberry he should never have been dropped"
Southend's third team found it hard on a hot day against a very young Brentwood
side. Southends first goal came early from James Lockwood which took the
pressure off Southend allowing them to play some of the most flowing hockey
the team has seen all season. Lee Styles, dropped from the first team and unable to get into the top of the table second team, showed his class scoring the second with a skilful
flick (it would be a flick as he can't hit the ball!) from open play.
Near the end of the half, acting captain Jak Taylor crashed through the defence to win a somewhat dubious flick. Learning from his father and all good captains before him, Taylor decided that he was the best man for the job of taking the flick. Unfortunately, he missed when he lobbed the flick straight down the centre, which the keeper easily handled.
The second half was much the same, James Lockwood and Matt Dawes notably
putting in critical tackles to keep the Brentwood forwards quiet. The
excellent passing was probably the highlight of the half but goals from Des
White, Gary Hastings (with his first for the club since transferring from Rochford), a superb top corner power drive from Jak Taylor (making up for the earlier missed flick), another quality flick (surely not another flick - told you he can't hit it) from Lee Styles to round things off.
Brentwood did manage a consolation goal during the second period but took nothing away
from a great 6-1 victory from a hard working Southend team maintaining pace
with the pack in 4th place in a fiercely competitive league.
Styles was later heard to comment in the bar "Two goals in one game, can you believe it. I've only ever scored two goals for the club in my whole career. I would have scored a hat trick too if i'd have been allowed to take the flick. I can't hit the ball but I can flick it, so i would definitely have scored. I'll never get another chance to score a hat trick for the club. Its not fair, Jak scores loads of goals and yet he still wanted to take it. Still hopefully this performance may be good enough to get me back into the first team, I knew that the Captain was wrong to drop me"
Southend 4th XI 3 - 3 Thurrock 3rd XI
As the saying goes, it was 'a game of two halves'.
Southend were strong from the outset, quickly setting the pace of the game with a well-organised midfield and strong forward line. Good passing and control throughout the team soon allowed John Evans to break through and score first and second goals in quick succession. Thurrock by comparison looked disorganised and their attacking moves were easily broken down by Southend's robust defence. A short corner converted by Peter Taylor gave Southend a three goal advantage at half-time.
The second half started in similar fashion but the balance of play in Southend's favour was short-lived. A contentious penalty flick decision (for our keeper Justin's sliding defence on a Thurrock forward) fortunately went wide of the mark, but a few minutes later another flick was awarded and this time converted successfully. A revived Thurrock side then produced some challenging play which produced a number of minor casualties in Southend side and, more importantly for Thurrock, two goals which produced the equalising scoreline. The final minutes of play saw some brave efforts by Southend’s defence to prevent a winning comeback, and the final whistle was much appreciated at least by the away team.
Some excellent passing play from Southend, with a good lesson in maintaining structure throughout the game. It appears a friendly rematch is in the offing…
Southend & Benfleet Ladies 5 - 1 Rochford Ladies
Southend Ladies dominated in a friendly game against local rivals Rochford and won easily scoring five goals in the process. The goals came from a hat trick from Naomi Barker and one apiece from last years top goalscorer Lora Sharples and Anne Marie Byford.
Southend Mixed 1 - 5 Havering Mixed
"McPhee makes losing start as new mixed captain"
On a mild Autumnal day in October Southend's Mixed XI started their defence of the Mixed League against a strong Havering XI which included two Pakistani Internationals. Right from the start Havering proved to have a strong side but Southend kept to their game plan and didn't deserve to go in at half time 4 - 0 down with most of their goals superbly taken by their Pakistani Internationals.
In the Second half Southend started the stronger side and had some good chances and Neil Utton scoring a good Penalty corner. Havering started pressing again and scored late on. The other notable incident in the game was that 1st team defender Steve Hayman broke his run of completed matches by going off injured (surely not again!). |
