Real men wear Pink: well, Gills did last night, we wear 'cherry voltage', so there
One of the joys of the season is how experienced centre-back Mark Phillips has been turning out a couple of times a week since returning from a long line of injuries.
The fact he keeps scoring doubles the pleasure!
Even so, the Shrimpers defensive record has not been perfect over the early part of this present campaign, and though it's a bonus Mark headed home the winner against the Gills with three minutes left of normal time and having lost Bilel Mohsni to a red card, the fact they kept a clean sheet for the first time since beating Hereford on the opening day of the season, also 1-0, was just as satisfying.
Phillips told www.echo-news.co.uk: “It was a very pleasing night all round because we dug deep to beat a good Gillingham side. To score the goal was very nice but we were so pleased to get the clean sheet. I actually thought we had been defending well all season but had been getting punished for being a bit naïve at times. Against Gillingham though, I think more of the team thought more about their defending. The midfield and the strikers made sure we had a good shape which was key, especially when we went down to 10 men.”
So that's the club's joint top scorer for Mr. Phillips, tied on three with soon to be back from suspension Liam Dickinson, and that's not a bad place to be for the former Brentford skipper.
Phillips said: “It was a great feeling to see the ball go in right at the end. It was my third goal of the season and I’m enjoying having that freedom to attack the ball from set pieces."
And he's doing it very well, when Baz gets back there could be some jockeying for position when Ryan gets the ball at set pices!
The S24 Match Report: www.southendunited-mad.co.uk