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Newman will name the same squad for the Kassam trip as he has for the previous three matches, however there will be one addition, with Aston Villa's young midfielder Jay Smith added to the travellers having inpressed hugely in Wednesday afternoon's 4-3 reserve team victory over Northampton Town. Smith could well claim a place on the bench as Ian Selley and Kevin Maher look set to retain their central midfield pairing.
One thing that is certain is that the Shrimpers supporters will be hoping for a much improved performance from United's shgowing at the Kassam last season, Oxford crusing to a 2-0 victory, their very first at their new stadium, in a late September encounter in which Southend were never in the game. Tony Richards well struck free kick that came back off the foot of the post was Southend's only real chance of the match.
At Roots Hall in early Martch however, it was a completely different story as United were robbed of two points that really should have theirs. Southend cruised into a two goal lead thanks to a superb Leon Cort header and a Tes Bramble penalty before Andy Scott grabbed a flucky, deflected equaliser with Oxford's first meaningful attack seconds before half time. Barrington Belgrave squandered a fabulous opportunity for the Shrimpers before the equaliser came from a fortunate penalty, Scott Forbes adjudged to have handled a cross; Paul Powell smashed home the spot kick.
Oxford seem to be somewhat of a bogie side to Southend, the Shrimpers having not beaten the U's since October 1993 when a Tommy Mooney hat-trick helped United on their way to a 6-1 victory in a First Division match, and prior to that Stan Collymore scored the only goal of the game with a great 25 yard shot to earn the Shrimpers a 1-0 victory at the Manor Ground in March 1993.
It seems that Southend have one or two scores to settle tomorrow afternoon! See you there...
LAST MATCHES:
Southend United 2 (Jenkins 8, Bramble 80) Shrewsbury Town 3 (Rodgers 40, 57, Atkins 77), Line-Up - Flahavan, Broad (Beard 45), Cort, Whelan (Maye 78), Searle, Clark (Thurgood 45), Selley, Maher, Jenkins, Rawle, Jones. Unused - Belgrave, Gay.
Darlington 0 Oxford United 1 (Basham 45), Line-up - Woodman, Robinson, McNiven, Crosby, Bound, Waterman, Hunt, Savage (Whitehead 56), Oldfield, Scott (Ricketts 88), Basham (Hackett 79). Unused - Ford, Steele.
LAST FIVE:
March 2nd, 2002 - Southend United 2 (Cort, Bramble (pen)) Oxford United 2 - Division Three
September 25th, 2001 - Oxford United 2 Southend United 0 - Division Three
August 24th, 1999 - Oxford United 1 Southend United 0 - Worthington Cup
August 10th, 1999 - Southend United 0 Oxford United 2 - Worthington Cup
March 22nd, 1997 - Southend United 2 (Boere, Lapper) Oxford United 2 - Division One
SOUTHEND (from):- Darryl Flahavan, Daniel Gay, Mark Beard, Damon Searle, Neil Jenkins, Leon Cort, Phil Whelan, Stephen Broad, Kevin Maher, Stuart Thurgood, Ian Selley, Jay Smith, Danny Maye, Mark Rawle, Barrington Belgrave, Tesfaye Bramble, Graeme Jones.
Mark Wallis
www.thelittlegazette.com