S24 got it spot on as Blues boss Paul Sturrock confirmed that Bilel Mohsni and son of Luggy Blair Sturrock would be asked to break down the Cobblers defence, with Ryan Hall back on the wing, with new loan signing Michael Timlin on the bench.
Veteran centre-back Graham Coughlan will join him instead of left-back Peter Gilbert, the belief obviously that the Cobbblers with their big boys in the line-up may lead to a lot of work for skipper Chris Barker and Mark Phillips which may need some cover.
The away side had a shock when boss Gary Johnson did not travel to Roots Hall due to being ill and the team was being managed by his assistant David Lee.
As for the first 45, as expected, our Cobbler to watch and former Luggy target Adebayo Akinfenwa concededa couple of free-kicks in the first 20 minutes, poor Mark, who eventually picked up a yellow card and gace a set piece of his own after fouling the big target man
There were shots from far out, the usual suspects for the Essex boys in Hall and Leonard, well delt with by both keepers, the odd corner or two, but no clear cut chances.
Then, out of no where, Southend took the lead and Bilel Mohsni grabbed it after being found by Sturrock and the Frenchman let loose from long distance to find the top right hand corner.
The game settled down after that with another Leonard shot from distance from a Hall corner brought the sides up to the half-time whistle.
Half-Time: Southend United 1 Northampton Town 0
Attendance 4805, (361 away fans.)
The half so far: http://news.bbc.co.uk