Captain Craig Easton was in fact fit enough this week to take his place in midfield, but the hero of the night was the exciting winger Ryan Hall who only on Thursday decided to extend his contract with the Shrimpers by a further two years, and celebrated by scoring a brace!
That's seven home matches unbeaten now since the 2-0 defeat by Shewsbury in early February, while it meant that Bradford have still have never won at Roots Hall, a record that includes their neigbours the resurrected Park Avenue, the seaside air doesn't go down well with teams from the curry capital of the UK!
On to the footy then, and after dominating the early stages with a Graham Coughlan header from a superb Sean Clohessy cross well turned over the bar by Bantams keeper Joe McLaughlin being the highlight, it was no surprise when the home side took the lead a minute before the half-hour mark.
That well known Irishman Harry Crawford, keeping Blair Sturrock out of the side and starting to form an impressive partnership with Big Baz up front, was fouled in the box by Luke O'Brien, and top scorer Barry Corr made it 19 for the season finding the bottom left hand corner.
A rare sortie into Southend territory for the West Yorkshireman saw their skipper Michael Flynn shoot straight at United No.1 Glenn Morris with a from long range, the best the tight Blues back four would allow them.
The Shrimpers faithful remained confident another goal was on the way and a couple of minutes before the break Ryan Hall delivered with a typical effort, a quickly taken Anthony Grant free-kick found the Dulwich born wideboy who struck a 25 yard sizzler in to the bottom right hand corner via a deflection off a City defender on a night nothing would go right foor then.
Maybe should have played Lewis Hunt after all, new contract or not for next term, it might mean the difference between staying in the League or not, though they should get the win they need from the four games remaining.
A more determined Bradford side started the second half, typical of a team managed by Peter Jackson, and first, Tom Adeyemi saw his strike tipped over the bar by Morris, followed by old nemesis Scott Dobie who found himself one on one with the former Borient shot shopper, thought about what to do, he's geetting old bless him, and Morris gratefully fell on the ball.
Scored one of those and we might have had an interesting finish, but it was not to be and on 66 minutes the game was over.
The busy as ever Hall crossing, 17 assists now(?), for Kane Ferdinand to head home from 12 yards for his second professional goal and Southend's third on the night.
And that was not the end for the battered Bantams, Ryan Hall chased Grant's long ball coming in from the left-hand side of the pitch, headed over the on-rushing McLaughlin, and keeping his composure half volleyed into the back of the net to complete the scoring! (Freddie in his pomp anyone? Stan or Fred, vote here:
www.southendunited-mad.co.uk/interactive/voting_polls.asp)
Another brilliant effort in a season of special strikes from the special 23-year-old, thank God for good old British justice!
Only the woodwork stopped the Shrimpers making it five as Grant tried his luck from 20 yards and McLaughlin shakily pushed the ball on to the crossbar, then Corr tried his luck from inside his own half, almost catching McLaughlin off his line al la Beckham all those years ago, except he scored!
The away side also hit the bar with a free-kick from a way out by Robbie Threlfall but it was too little too late, as the points are sadly for Southend regarding a play-off challenge, but good for morale for team and fans alike in a tough week, and leave hopes high for a decent finish to continue against top seven chasers Stevenage next Good Friday afternoon, also on the hallowed turf.
Southend Player Markings: Morris - 7, Clohessy - 7, Barker - 7, Coughlan - 7, Prosser - 6 (Nesbitt 75 - 6), Grant - 8, Easton - 5 (Asante 83), Ferdinand - 6, Corr - 7, Crawford - 6 (Sturrock - 6), Hall - 9.
Referee - Mr. G. Sutton - 7.
| Competition: Npower League Two Date: Friday, 15th April 2011 Kick off: 19:45 Venue: Roots Hall | ||||
 | Southend Utd. Corr 29 (pen) Hall 43, 70 Ferdinand 66 | 4 - 0 | Bradford City |  |
| Starting line-ups | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glenn Morris | |
| 23 | Chris Barker | |
| 16 | Luke Prosser (Nesbitt 75) | |
| 5 | Graham Coughlan | |
| 2 | Sean Clohessy | |
| 8 | Craig Easton (Asante 83) | |
| 12 | Ryan Hall | |
| 7 | Anthony Grant | |
| 31 | Kane Ferdinand | |
| 20 | Harry Crawford (Sturrock 71) | |
| 10 | Barry Corr | |
| Substitutes | ||
| 17 | Louie Soares | |
| 30 | Alex Woodyard | |
| 21 | Blair Sturrock (Crawford 71) | |
| 24 | Rhys Evans | |
| 28 | Kyle Asante (Easton 83) | |
| 25 | Teddy Nesbitt (Prosser 75) | |
| 19 | Miguel Comminges | |
| Starting line-ups | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jon McLaughlan | |
| 6 | Luke Oliver | |
| 3 | Luke O'Brien | |
| 28 | Robbie Threlfall | |
| 22 | Lee Bullock | |
| 23 | Dave Syers | |
| 19 | Jonathan Worthington | |
| 20 | Tom Adeyemi (Osborne 63) | |
| 4 | Michael Flynn | |
| 11 | Scott Dobie (Speight 64) | |
| 9 | Gareth Evans (Rowe 83) | |
| Substitutes | ||
| 32 | Dominic Rowe (Evans 83) | |
| 40 | Leonard Pidgeley | |
| 14 | Leon Osborne (Adeyemi 63) | |
| 10 | Jake Speight (Dobie 64) | |
| 30 | Adam Robinson | |
| 25 | Chibuzor Chilaka | |
| 31 | Alex Flett | |
| 54.8% | Possession | 45.2% |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Goal Attempts | 0 |
| 4 | On Target | 0 |
| 0 | Off Target | 0 |
| 0 | Hit Woodwork | 0 |
| 8 | Corners | 6 |
| Referee | Attendance |
|---|---|
| Garry Sutton | 5,217 |
| Southend Utd. cards shown | ||
|---|---|---|
| 32 | Ferdinand | Unsporting behaviour |
| Bradford City cards shown | ||
| 61 | Threlfall | Unsporting behaviour |