Dickinson's defence: 'I didn't elbow Cansdell-Sherriff, it was a clash of heads'

 

Shrimpers striker Liam Dickinson, already on a yellow card, was involved in a second half incident that got the home crowd excited, not that they needed much after the Shrews S24 man-to-watch Marvin Morgam, well he certainly was when he went decided to lunge into JP Kalala, got sent off after half an hour.

 

Up he went with Shrewsbury centre-back Shane Cansdell-Sherriff soon after Ryan Hall's 66th minute equaliser, and down they both went after tehir heads collided, but it was the Aussie defender who came off worse, and he was stretchered off after a lengthy spell of treatment that eventually led to nine minutes of stoppage time.

 

Cue the ineviatable calls from the home faithful, and some annoying kids in the corner, for the now joint Southend top scorer to be sent off and equal the numbers on the pitch, and referee Whitestone might have been pressured in to it.

 

However, to his credit, he stood firm and no further action was taken, which of course got the crowd going even more, booing the ref, player and poor old Bilel Mohsni for just coming on as a sub, accusing Dickinson of putting his elbow in Cansdell-Sherriff's face.

 

No way tweets Liam, maybe in more forceful terms than we would have put it: 'Sum 1 tell these #bellend STFC fans that I didn't elbow sheriff, was a clash of heads!! All gobshites when there behined a barrier or on here.'

 

Diplomaticly put mate, who went on to say: 'Hope sheriff is ok and returns back to action asap #No intent what so ever.'

 

Even so, it does seem some Shrews fans want Liam to do himself some harm, not that Liam seems too bothered: 'Hahahaha some shrewsbury fans wishin me 2 break my leg!!! #bellends'

 

And that should be the end of it,but probably not!

 

More importantly, we lost, after an hour against ten men, not good.

 

Blues boss Paul Sturrock said: 'Against 10 men and a crowd who feel hard done by it's a dangerous combination. It's like playing 12 but we didn't play well.'

 

Adding that he wanted to bring on Sampson but Kalala was injured and couldn't carry on. He fears midfielder Jean-Paul Kalala and, of even more concern, centre-back Mark Phillips, could be out long term.

 

Of the surprising decision to place the dangerous Hall on the bench, it seems a stomach upset and some family concerns during the week led to a lack of training though the player felt differently.

 

He said: 'I felt like I could've started but I hadn't trained much and the manager said that's why I wasn't being picked.'

 

Interesting, and he still scored, think what damage he might of done if he's started.

 

The villain of the piece for many of the 407 Shrimpers support in the 5,601 total attendance was poor old left-back Peter Gilbert, a silly challange for sure, but not deserving of some of the words I heard in the away end, causing a move to a quieter spot for the second time in three away games!

 

Gilbert put the case for his defense: 'It was a soft penalty but I didn't see the player behind me. The cross took a deflection and that killed me."

 

We await the highlights!

 

For those wondering why striker Bomber Harris wasn't even on the bench Echoman Chris Phillips tweeted: 'Lots of people asking about Neil Harris. I think he stayed at home because his wife is due to give birth at any time.'

 

Fair enough, allowing the last word to Bolton loanee Jack Sampson, who i really thought should have come on, earler for Dickinson when that second yellow was very close, before, and certainly soon after, the 'incident', and definitly after their second, Luggy has these blind spots.

 

Jack wrote: 'Gutted I didn't get on today. Time to relax with family and @HannahRoughley for the weekend :-) #sufc'

 

Lucky Hannah!