115 Shrimpers who saw the tide turn for Southend

Southend carved their way back into the game, and having escaped going a goal down through Clark's shot nearly scored themselves , with a trio of chances. Firstly Kevin Maher's free-kick was headed goalwards by Wayne Gray on six minutes, but 'keeper Dimitrios Konstantopoulos was well placed to catch the incoming ball. Shortly afterwards Freddy Eastwood saw a 30-yard shot fly well wide of the target, and Mark Gower's bending free-kick just wouldn't bend it's way into the far corner of the net - instead rolling inches wide of the Pool's goal.

Despite the early chances, Southend gave themselves a mountain to climb in the snow as Eifion Williams scored first blood to Hartlepool after twenty minutes. A clever through ball from quick winger Anthony Sweeney cut the Southend defence in two, and despite saving Williams' first attempt Darryl Flahavan could only look on as the frontrunner headed the ball past Adam Barrett's desperate effort to clear the ball.

However the Monkey Hangers lead didn't last - Freddy Eastwood levelling proceedings ten minutes later. Following some hard running from Luke Guttridge, Mark Gower whipped a low cross to the feet of the former Grays forward, and he rifled the ball into the corner of the net for his eleventh goal in seventeen starts so far this season.

Following the eqauliser the Blues once again fell under a huge resistance of attacking threat from Hartlepool, which is where Flahavan really introduced himself to the game.

Darren Craddock fired possibly the home side's cleanest shot of the evening at goal, and with the ball dipping visciously towards the ball of the net, Flahavan somehow managed to bend himself backwards and claw the ball over the crossbar. Flahavan next denied Eifion Williams who was frustrated in his attempts to score his second of the evening - the former Southampton stopper diving at full stetch to prevent the 42^nd minute shot from bouncing into the corner of the net, tipping the ball wide of the post. With only seconds of the first half remaining, Flahavan completed an impressive array of saves - instinctively pushing Thomas Butler's 6-yard header away from danger to the relief of the away supporters.

At the start of the second half, the Shrimpers custodian was at it again - this time blocking yet another long range effort from Butler before Flahavan was helped by Luke Guttridge, who did brilliantly to clear Williams' header off of the line.

The Pool went close again with their second free-kick of the match on 67 minutes - this it was Chris Llewellyn instead of Ben Clark who fired wide of the goalframe.

However despite the mounting pressure from the home side, Southend somehow managed to break away downfield and create an opportunity. One which was to be the winning goal.

Shortly after Mark Gower had seen his dipping free-kick punched away by Konstatntopoulos, Pool centre back Michael Nelson was adjudged to have pushed Wayne Gray in the penalty area by referee Andy Hall, and the midlander gave a penalty almost immediately. The Shrimpers supporters could hardly believe their luck as Gray coolly tucked the ball into the bottom right corner of the net, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way.

However whilst some of the Southend fans were doing the conga at the rear of the stand, down the other end of the pitch the referee had once again awarded a penalty - this time in favour of Hartlepool following a aledged pull of the shirt by Duncan Jupp on Chris Llewellyn. Lewellyn stepped up himself, but with four minutes of added time played, Flahavan saved the spot-kick and the follow-up shot for a fairy tale ending for everybody concerned with Southend United Football Club.

The players and management's appreciation to the fans was superb, as the players threw their shirts into the crowd to extend the delight of the Southend supporters who still had a hectic six-and-a-half-hour journey in front of them!

Coca Cola League One, Wednesday, 28th December 2005 @ 19:45; Victoria Park
Williams 20 Eastwood 32 Gray 85 (pen)
Starting Line-ups 1 Konstantopoulos 6 20 Craddock 6 5 Nelson 7 32 Collins 7 16 Clark 7 17 Clarke 8 8 Humphreys 6 24 Butler (Maidens 75) 6 15 Sweeney 6 11 Williams, E (Istead 82) 7 7 Llewellyn (Daly 90) 6 Substitutes 21 Provett 25 Istead (Williams 82) 23 Williams, D 34 Maidens (Butler 75) 10 Daly (Llewellyn 90) After the game:	16 Goal Attempts 9 9 On Target 4 7 Off Target 5 0 Hit Woodwork 0 5 Offsides 3 14 Corners 3 16 Fouls 14	Starting Line-ups 1 Flahavan 8 5 Prior 6 2 Jupp 6 3 Wilson 6 6 Barrett 6 14 Cole, M (Bentley 65) 6 7 Gower 7 16 Guttridge (Campbell-Ryce 64) 6 8 Maher 6 23 Eastwood 7 10 Gray 7 Substitutes 11 Pettefer 15 Edwards 12 Bentley (Cole, M 65) 6 21 Campbell-Ryce (Guttridge 64) 6 20 Lawson
	Referee A Hall, W Midlands Attendance 3929
	Hartlepool U. Cards Clarke 51 unsporting behaviour Southend Utd. Cards Wilson 67 unsporting behaviour Jupp 86 timewasting

1	Brentford	23		6	4	2	19	14		6	3	2	18	10		12	7	4	37	24		43	13
2	Swansea City	23		7	3	1	26	9		5	3	4	22	19		12	6	5	48	28		42	20
3	Huddersfield Town	24		7	4	2	19	16		4	4	3	18	16		11	8	5	37	32		41	5
4	Southend United	24		5	5	2	18	11		6	2	4	18	14		11	7	6	36	25		40	11
5	Barnsley	23		7	4	1	23	11		3	3	5	11	12		10	7	6	34	23		37	11
6	Colchester United	23		6	2	3	20	12		4	5	3	11	11		10	7	6	31	23		37	8