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A crumb of comfort to boss Rob Newman will be that he has a full squad to choose from, save for the Cup-tied Mark Salter. Graeme Jones played 35 minutes of the match at Feethams, and could be in line to replace Barrington Belgrave, although there is little to suggest that the former Yeovil man will be dropped other than his surprise inclusion in Wednesday's reserve team outing against Reading. Bramble, who has scored in his last three away games, will be hoping to add to his personal tally of seven for the season, and translate some of the form on his travels to Roots Hall. Mark Rawle is the final option.
Goalkeeper Darryl Flahavan should retain his place in the starting line-up after saving a penalty at Darlington, but the main competition for places should come just in front of him. Stephen Broad has been warming the bench since sitting out the original Hartlepool tie, but has been putting increasing pressure on Dave McSweeney at the centre of defence to partner the ever-present Leon Cort. Damon Searle and Neil Jenkins will once again contest the left-back slot, but Mark Beard, having secured yet another monthly contract, is secure as the opposite full-back. Phil Whelan, who has hinted at a move away from the Hall, looks set to be frozen out yet again after missing the trip to Didcot and the ensuing 4-0 drubbing to the Royals.
The midfield, too, offers Newman options. Captain Kevin Maher will line up alongside Jay Smith, who will be playing his last match before serving out a one-match suspension against Boston United in seven days time. Tony Scully could operate on either flank, the manager having a straight choice between Jenkins and Clark as to who will take the opposite wing.
The Cherries arrive once again in south-east Essex with a number of injuries, most noticeably up front. Alan Connell has been out all season, and will only make the trip as a supporter, whilst Warren Feeney, a former Leeds United youngster, was injuried in the dying moments of Bournemouth's First Round tie against Doncaster. He has yet to recover, and joins Shaun Maher and Brian Stock on the sidelines. Added to this, Chukkie Eribenne, recalled from his loan spell at Hereford United, is ruled out having partcipated in the Edgar Street side's opening round clash.
Bournemouth, who brought 560 supporters to Roots Hall for the League encounter, could bring as many as 1200 as United look forward to a bumper crowd. Manager Sean O'Driscoll is anticipating another tough match, having seen Garreth O'Connor's fortunate penalty give his side a closely-fought single-goal win a fortnight ago. Indeed, he even believes the Shrimpers may hold a narrow advantage having seen how his side play in the earlier clash. Since that game, O'Driscoll's men disposed of Scunthorpe at Dean Court, overturning a half-time deficit to go third in Division Three thanks to Karl Broadhurst's first professional goal and a second by James Hayter. They have now lost only two of their last fifteen matches after a sluggish start to the season, but tellingly they were both away from the Fitness First Stadium. Let's hope the Shrimpers can send them away without any of the spoils this afternoon!
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LAST MATCHES:
Darlington 2 (Conlon 37, Nicholls 87) Southend United 1 (Bramble 90). Line-up: Flahavan, Beard, Cort, McSweeney, Searle, Scully, Smith, Maher, Jenkins (Jones 53), Bramble, Belgrave. Subs not used: Gay, Broad, Thurgood, Clark.
AFC Bournemouth 2 (Broadhurst 59, Hayter 66) Scunthorpe United 1 (Torpey 25). Line-up: Moss, Young, Broadhurst, Carl Fletcher, Stephen Purches, Elliott, O'Connor, Browning, Thomas (Tindall 78), Steve Fletcher, Hayter (Holmes 89). Subs not used: Tardif, Eribenne, Narada.
LAST FIVE MEETINGS:
23rd November 2002 - Southend United 0 AFC Bournemouth 1 (O'Connor 72 [pen]) - Division Three
21st March, 1998 - Southend United 5 (Boere 59 [pen], 66, Thomson 62, 65, Clarke 88) AFC Bournemouth 3 (Stein 58, Bailey 75, S. Fletcher 90) - Division Two
18th November, 1997 - AFC Bournemouth 2 (S. Fletcher 44, Warren 47) Southend United 1 (Dublin 5) - Division Two
23rd March 1991 - AFC Bournemouth 3 (Blissett, Prior og, Watson) Southend United 1 (Angell) - Division Three (old)
5th October, 1990 - Southend United 2 (Martin, Angell) AFC Bournemouth 1 (Ekoku) - Division Three (old)
Southend United (from): Darryl Flahavan, Danny Gay, Mark Beard, Leon Cort, Dave McSweeney, Stephen Broad, Damon Searle, Neil Jenkins, Tony Scully, Steven Clark, Kevin Maher, Jay Smith, Stuart Thurgood, Tes Bramble, Barrington Belgrave, Graeme Jones, Mark Rawle.
AFC Bournemouth (likely): Neil Moss, Chris Tardiff, Neil Young, Stephen Purches, Karl Broadhurst, Jason Tindall, Marcus Browning, Carl Fletcher, Wade Elliott, Garreth O'Connor, Narada Bernard, Danny Thomas, Steve Fletcher, James Hayter, Derek Holmes, Awos Foweya.
OFFICIALS:
Referee: Anthony Bates (Stoke-on-Trent)
Assistant Referees: Jon Beadle (Gravesend), Martin Darlow (Bedford)
Fourth Official: Fred Graham (Essex)
F.A. Delegate: I.S. Hemley
Bates has officiated in 19 games so far this season, mostly in Divisions One and Two, and has booked 55 players and sent off just one. He has not refereed a game involved Southend since Darlington at Feethams last year, where just David Brightwell found his way into the book. Prior to that he took charge of our game at Gay Meadow in December 2000, when David Lee was cautioned and only Karl Murray joined him. At Rotherham at the very end of the 1999/2000 season, Steve Jones found himself sent off with just two minutes left for a second bookable offence, after Nigel Pepper and Leo Roget had also been booked. At Roots Hall against Barnet that year four players were cautioned and at Fulham two years previously just one solitary person was booked. The number of cards shown has fallen progressively in the last five years, so that he is currently averaging only two-and-a-half bookings a match, down from over four in 1997/8.
Robert Craven
www.thelittlegazette.com
SOUTHEND UNITED vs. AFC BOURNEMOUTH - HEAD-TO-HEAD:
Overall:
Southend United: 35
AFC Bournemouth: 36
Draws: 28
At Roots Hall:
Southend United: 22
AFC Bournemouth: 19
Draws: 8
In the F.A. Cup:
Southend United 2 (1982/3 - 2-0 at Bournemouth, 1951/2 - 6-1 at Southend)
AFC Bournemouth 1 (1971/2 - 2-0 at Bournemouth)
Draws: 0
2002/3 Statistics (courtesy of www.soccer-stats.com):
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