Cobblers seen off by Shrimpers youth

Blues' Youths have a number of games in hand over most of their rivals in the upper echelons of the table, and are starting to build some momentum after claiming an eighth victory from their first ten matches of 2011 in all competitions.

Duane Ofori-Acheampong returned to the scoresheet, with his first goals since the end of January taking his tally for the season to 16, whilst George Smith netted for the third match in succession to continue his recent impressive form and make the match safe despite Will Green's late consolation for the visitors.

That began to change in the eleventh minute when Anthony Furlonge broke out of defence to free Hicham Abdellah. The winger, set to serve a one-match suspension for his red card against Barnet next weekend, passed inside to Smith, who saw a low shot deflected just past the left-hand upright.

Seven minutes later the Shrimpers took the lead with a well-crafted move on the opposite flank. This time Julian Okai provided the impetus, slipping Smith away on the touchline. The Republic of Ireland Under-18 international dug out a cross to the near post, where Town goalkeeper Jak Riley spilt the ball and Ofori-Acheampong was alert enough to steal it away from the custodian and slot into an empty net.

The same pair combined midway through the half, with Smith's short pass on the edge of the penalty area allowing the forward to curl a shot against the inside of the right-hand post. The ball rolled away from goal and into the grateful gloves of Riley, who later just managed to recover after misjudging a back pass to scramble away to safety.

Despite this period of relative dominance, Southend were prone to lapses in concentration, and Michael Hyland was dispossessed by Green in midfield in one such instance just after the half-hour mark. Green found a midfielder on the overlap, but Luke Chambers was able to clutch the resultant shot to his stomach at his near post.

Play switched immediately to the other end, where full-back Furlonge twice went close to scoring his third goal of the season. His first opportunity came when the tiny Okai managed to out-jump shotstopper Riley, prompting Furlonge to scuff his shot at goal from 15 yards. In the very next attack, the highly-rated defender received the ball back from Smith before drawing an excellent parried save from Riley.

The first half ended with Ofori-Acheampong being robbed of the ball by Green, who proceeded to fire narrowly over, whilst the second period began with the visitors committing a defensive error, two mistimed leaps offering Okai a sight of goal. The wide-man's half-volley flew past the left-hand post.

Blues did manage to extend their lead within four minutes of the restart. The move was excellent, Stevens pinging the ball into Smith's feet and the playmaker seeking out Abdellah on the right. His cross was lofted over Riley to Ofori-Acheampong, who was perhaps a little fortunate when his header rebounded off of the upright and in off the back of his heel at the far post.

Abdellah continued to carve out chances, notably for the tall centre-forward as he sought a first hat-trick in Southend colours, but Ofori-Acheampong glanced a header wide whilst Smith also failed to make a goalscoring connection with the former Football's Next Star contestant's centre.

Green flashed an effort across the face of goal for the Cobblers, but Southend's profligacy was the prevalent feature of the second half as Smith found himself unable to convert Teddy Nesbitt's inviting left-wing cross and Ofori-Acheampong's imperious header bounced off-target, with skipper Stevens whipping a 35-yard free-kick narrowly wide in between.

The result was finally made safe just moments after the introduction of exciting winger Lyle Della-Verde. A long ball forward was punched off of Louis Baucutt's head by Riley straight to the 16-year-old, whose first touch was an outrageous volley which the 'keeper did well to parry out. Smith capitalised by using quick feet to control the ball and sweep it into the bottom right-hand corner to register his tenth career goal for the club.

Green almost pulled a goal back with nine minutes remaining when he tracked across the penalty area before smashing his shot across the face of goal, but he did spoil Chambers' clean sheet with a little over a minute remaining when he latched onto the ball after Michael Hassini had failed to clear, larruping it in off of the underside of the crossbar.

A young Northampton team took credit from their performance, which belied their position at the foot of the South East Conference table, whilst Southend will be looking to keep up their successful run next weekend when they travel to Peterborough United.

Southend United: Luke Chambers, Anthony Furlonge, Teddy Nesbitt, James Stevens, Michael Hassini, Louis Baucutt, Hicham Abdellah (Fope Coker 66), Michael Hyland, Duane Ofori-Acheampong (Rhys Mackay 71), George Smith, Julian Okai (Lyle Della-Verde 76). Substitutes not used: Ryan Auger, Jack Paxman.

Goals: Ofori-Acheampong (18, 49), Smith (77).