Blues’ Youths had lost their opening two group matches 1-0, to Queens Park Rangers and Leyton Orient respectively, but four goals from Jack Payne plus single strikes from Jack Bridge - on his Under-18s debut - Ryan Auger and Shamir Mullings helped them to avenge a 3-0 League defeat to the Daggers at Boots & Laces earlier this term.
“Everything came together today; the performance and the result,” claimed Head of Youth Ricky Duncan. “I wasn’t disappointed by the performances against QPR and Orient because we played well, but we didn’t get the results in those games, whereas today it clicked.”
"Jack Payne hasn’t missed a chance; he was excellent and you can’t fault him today. He had a slight injury earlier in the season which set him back a bit, but he worked hard to get back into the side and he has got his rewards with four goals. Shamir also got his name back on the scoresheet with a tremendous goal, so that was pleasing,” he added.
Bridge and Josh Banton came into the side in place of injured defensive duo Anthony Furlonge and Aaron Tatham and initially the Shrimpers had to be on their mettle at the back as Tony Jacobs fired narrowly wide inside the opening 40 seconds.
Jacobs was also apprehended by goalkeeper Luke Chambers in the third minute before Ryan Auger raced across to challenge Tim Monsheju on the edge of the penalty area after the forward had charged down a Banton clearance.
However, Southend managed to see out the opening quarter of the match without further alarm and two Marlon Agyakwa centres as well as an Auger cross narrowly eluded Payne and Mullings in the middle before a Michael Hyland effort from 25 yards bounced into the goalkeeper’s gloves.
Mullings then drove forwards before rolling the ball in to Bridge, who teed up Hyland for a stronger shot straight at the ‘keeper. Following that, in the 28th minute, Blues broke the deadlock with an exquisite move started by Auger, who threaded a pass in to Jack Edwards down the inside-right channel. The midfielder rounded the goalkeeper before firing the ball across goal to the back post, where Payne converted from close range.
Having edged in front, Southend took just nine minutes to add to their lead. Bridge was at the fulcrum of the move, exchanging passes with Payne on the edge of the penalty area before attempting to repeat the trick with Mullings. When his secondary pass hit a defender, he adapted quickly to loft the ball over the advancing custodian and into the net.
Robert Hyams was called upon to sweep across the penalty area and whip the ball off Jacobs’ toecaps in the dying stages of the first half and, within two minutes of the beginning of the second period, Blues had scored their third goal. Bridge found his path blocked by a defender, who tripped him on the edge of the penalty box and Auger stepped up to swing the ball into the area, where it took a deflection off a defender before nestling in the bottom left-hand corner of the net.
That prompted a period of three goals in seven minutes, with Mullings the next player to score in the 51st minute. He received the ball when Agyakwa blocked a clearance and proceeded to flick the ball over a defender before striking it cleanly between the ‘keeper and his near post for an outstanding finish.
Three minutes later, Southend were 5-0 up and out of sight after an outstanding move down the left-hand side. Hyams chipped the ball down the line for Mullings, who in turn laid it off to Hyland. The captain swung a cross to the back-post, where Agyakwa side-footed the ball into the path of Payne and he doubled his personal tally for the morning by dragging it underneath his left foot and curling into the top right-hand corner of the goal.
Mullings wasted an excellent opportunity to add a sixth when he missed his connection with Auger’s swinging right-wing cross, but Payne was soon celebrating a hat-trick as Edwards’ cross was blocked by the hand of a defender. Regular penalty-taker Auger handed responsibility to his team-mate and Payne made no mistake with a confident spot-kick into the corner.
A fine performance was capped four minutes from time when the playmaker found the target again. Under-15 talent Ross Johnson chipped the ball into the box and, when Auger and substitute James Pinnock saw their shots blocked, Payne was on hand to score via the left-hand upright and help the team match the total of goals that they had previously managed in a 7-3 success over Leyton Orient.
Chambers made an excellent save in stoppage time to preserve his clean sheet and so, after recording a first victory in three matches, spirits are high again in the Shrimpers’ camp: “We’ve got Colchester on Friday, and we will be confident now,” reported Duncan.
“We had two Under-16s out there in Josh Banton and Jack Bridge, and they did really well because we had a couple of players out injured. For Jack to come in for his first start and put in a performance like that was excellent. We also gave a debut to Ross Johnson from the Under-15s and he didn’t look out of place, so today was very positive for us,” he concluded.
Southend United U18s: Luke Chambers, Ryan Auger, Robert Hyams (Harry Jeffrey 78), Jack Edwards, Josh Banton, Michael Hassini, Marlon Agyakwa (James Pinnock 69), Michael Hyland, Shamir Mullings, Jack Bridge (Ross Johnson 80), Jack Payne.
Substitutes not used: Mitchell Pinnock, Seedy Njie.
Goals: Payne (28, 54, 72 pen, 86), Bridge (37), Auger (47), Mullings (51).
Cautioned: Auger (42 - foul tackle).
Thanks to the Shrimpers Trust website for the reprinting of these reports, for the Trust's own youth section: www.shrimperstrust.co.uk