LDV Vans Trophy Special: How to get from Colchester to Cardiff

Despite this the game headed for penalties and a nervy Layer Road had seen both teams convert four penalties each. Gray, Hunt, Maher and Broughton had done the business for South Essex where as Joe Keith, Kevin Watson and Neil Danns had converted for North Essex. Next up for Colchester was Wayne Brown who struck wide of the goal and left Jimmy Corbett to finish the tie off for Southend. Corbett admitted that the winning penalty was his first touch of the game but he converted the penalty well and the Blues been the U’s again.

After drawing with Shrewsbury side only ten days previous, it was set to be difficult for Southend to break the Shrews defence down. However many did not count on Southend’s new weapon in Freddy Eastwood. Still on loan from Grays at the time, Eastwood was making his LDV Vans Trophy debut and he did so in some style. Eastwood took just thirteen minutes to open the scoring when he sprinted across the penalty area and fired in a low shot into the bottom right hand corner of the North Bank goal.

However it was not all one way traffic as Shrewbury attacked for an equaliser that they gained via a 25 yard strike from Jamie Tolley. The flight of the ball appeared to fool keeper Flahavan as the former Southampton trainee allowed the ball past him.

This did not deter the Shrimpers and there was a good atmosphere inside Roots Hall, notably in the South Upper where a number of fans had sat due to a ticketing nightmare by the club. Neither did this deter referee Keith Hill who awarded a dubious penalty to Southend after assistant Gary Evans flagged for a spotkick. Wayne Gray sent Howie the wrong way and successfully converted from twelve yards for the second LDV game running.

Southend went from strength to and Eastwood reminded everyone why it was so important for Southend to sign him permanently as he dashed into the area before sending the ball into the back of the net for the second time.

The second half was a dull affair with Southend controlling the pace of the game throughout. In fact it was not until the eighty-fourth minute that the dominant Shrimpers scored again. LDV villain from the last round Mark Bentley, made up for the red card he received by passing the ball into the goal for the fourth and final goal of the evening. Lewis Hunt received much of the plaudits for picking Bentley out with a superb assist.

Southend next faced a tricky tie as they visited their League Two promotion rivals Northampton Town at their home the Sixfield Stadium. With a number of tough games coming up Tilson made a few changes to the side, notably to the front line where Freddy Eastwood and Wayne Gray were rested in place of Lawrie Dudfield and Tesfaye Bramble.

Dudders grabbed his first goal of the tournament against his former club Northampton Town

The second goal was scored by a player, not brought into the side, but Carl Pettefer who had not missed a game all season. Pettefer rewarded his bosses, Tilly and Brush, for their loyalty to him with a scorching goal from around twenty yards out. Kevin Maher’s corner had been only half cleared, but few expected the rocket that Petts produced in order to double his side’s advantage and score his first goal in a Southend shirt.

The second half did not produce the excitement of the first despite the travelling Shrimpers’ army creating a great atmosphere. Whilst Northampton attempted to get back into the game they rarely troubled Southend and the Blues marched into another area semi-final.

For the second year running Southend proved victorious in the Semi-Final of the Southern Section by beating a team in the division above them. Like the victory over Queens Park Rangers, a year previous, Southend were much the better team and deserved to go through to the Area Final.

Just like the game against Northampton in the 3^rd round Steve Tilson chose to drop Freddy Eastwood in place of Lawrie Dudfield and again his choice was proven to be correct. Dudfield delightfully chipped over the head of the onrushing keeper Rhys Evans after a superb through ball by club captain Kevin Maher.

However Dudfield’s show was set to be stolen by tricky midfielder Nicky Nicolau. Nicolau, who started the season playing at left-back was brought into the side to replace injured left-winger Mark Gower. Nicolau had showed his trickery throughout the game and had already sent some rasping shots that had been well saved by Evans, however it was from the right hand side that Nicolau won the game for Southend. Nicolau, who trotted over to take a corner that he would swing into the penalty area with his stronger left foot. As the ball was whipped into the area it curled round all the defenders and ended up squirming underneath keeper Evans and into the net.

As the night went on it became clear that Southend would face Bristol Rovers in the next game after they overcame the Shrimpers’ local rivals Leyton Orient and Brisbane Road.

Southend took an impressive 770 fans to the south-west of the country to face the first step of the final hurdle in their attempt to reach the LDV Vans final. Whilst the fans had showed they were up for it off of the pitch the players showed they were up for it on the pitch taking a early lead. Lewis Hunt put a great cross into the area and finding the head of Lawrie Dudfield who successfully found the back of the net. Dudfield was clearly impressed with his goal as he ran towards the crazy travelling army. Southend continued to dominant the game but in one of Bristol’s occasional attack they managed to win a penalty Adam Barrett upended Craig Disley. However Junior Agogo, who had received a lot of stick from Southend fans throughout the night, struck his effort against the cross bar and the Southend continued to lead.

Steve Tilson’s men held their advantage until the fifty-sixth minute of the game when the Gas, levelled the tie via a header by Richard Walker after a Stuart Campbell corner. Rovers’ keeper Ryan Clarke was delighted despite having played at Southend earlier in the season.

However it only took eleven minutes for Southend to restore their advantage when Mark Gower ended the goal of the season competition with a superb strike. It was a trademark ‘cut in and shoot’ as he left James Hunt wondering how to deal with such a great piece of skill.

As the final whistle blew, Southend left the Memorial Stadium with one foot in the Millennium Stadium due to a one goal lead and two away goals to their name.

Southend United completed their run to the Millennium Stadium with a dramatic victory over to legs against Bristol Rovers. The Gas brought a good following to Roots Hall and their fans seemed full of optimism in order to get into the Cardiff showpiece.

Despite this on the field it was Southend who started the brighter side and managed to sent a number of shots from Gower and Eastwood toward goal, however keeper Kevin Miller appeared to be keeping the Blues at bay. Southend did though break the deadlock. On the half hour mark Wayne Gray managed to force the ball past Miller as he fired into the net from fourteen yards. Southend had a three one aggregate lead and it seemed as if they would ease into the final.

Despite this the Pirates had other ideas and on the stroke of half time Richard Walker deflected a Junior Agogo effort past Darryl Flahavan giving Southend plenty to worry about at half time.

Eastwood found LDV treasure against the Pirates

It looked as if Southend would ease to a win however Agogo made it a nervy last fifteen minutes for the Shrimpers following by volleying in from twenty yards. Agogo could do little else to stop the Shrimpers and Southend were crowned LDV Vans Southend Area Champions for the second year running.