Southend last tackled the Robins at home on the first day of the 2003/4 season, when in sweltering conditions Bobby Gould brought his newly-relegated charges down to saunter around in the summer sun. With a plethora of new signings on both sides, it was one such player – United’s Mark Gower - who bagged a brace, including one from the penalty spot in stoppage time, to hand Steve Wignall’s Shrimpers an opening day false dawn.
By the time the two teams met again on 9th January in the last encounter between the clubs, Gould and Wignall respectively had departed, and caretaker bosses John Ward and Steve Tilson locked horns for one of our famed Friday night clashes. This time Drewe Broughton was the Seasiders’ hero, scoring his first League goal for Southend twenty minutes from time. But on the day of his statement to the Southend Evening Echo that he wanted to start scoring regularly again, defender Leon Cort found only his own net three minutes from the end to leave both relegation-threatened outfits with a point apiece.
At Roots Hall, out of the six matches, Blues have won three and Town three, with two apiece in the League and one victory for both sides in the LDV Vans Trophy southern section first round, ironically in successive years, with all of the Gloucestershire side’s wins being by one-goal to nil. At Whaddon Road, the Shrimpers are yet to win, although on two occasions they have been unfortunate to simply draw.
Last Match
Cheltenham Town | 1-1 (Attendance: 4,551) | Southend United |
Leon Cort [o.g.] 87 | Friday 9th January 2004 @ Whaddon Road (Nationwide League Division Three) | Drewe Broughton 70 |
Shane Higgs Brian Wilson Jamie Victory Michael Duff -- John Brough John Finnigan Richard Forsyth Martin Devaney Grant McCann Bob Taylor Damian Spencer | 7 6 6 7 6(58) 6 7 7 6(77) 6(58) 7 | Darryl Flahavan Jay Smith Neil Jenkins | 7 6 8 6 6 7 7 6(82) 6(84) 7 7 |
Steve Book Mark Yates Paul Brayson David Bird Shane Duff | - - 7(58) -(77) 6(58) | Carl Emberson Mark Warren Steven Clark Michael Kightly | - -(82) - - -(84) |
Match Report By Robert Craven | |||
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Last Five Meetings
9th January 2004 – Cheltenham Town 1 (Leon Cort 87 [o.g.]) Southend United 1 (Drewe Broughton 70) – Nationwide League Division Three
9th August 2003 – Southend United 2 (Mark Gower 33, 90 [pen]) Cheltenham Town 0 – Nationwide League Division Three
9th February 2002 – Cheltenham Town 1 (Lee Howells 51) Southend United 1 (Rob Newman 83) – Nationwide League Division Three
28th September 2001 – Southend United 0 Cheltenham Town 1 (Julian Alsop 26) – Nationwide League Division Three
5th May 2001 – Cheltenham Town 2 (Neil Grayson 48, Grant McCann 86) Southend United 1 (Mark Rawle 54) – Nationwide League Division Three
The Complete Head-to-Head Record
2003/4 – H2-0 A1-1 (League)
2001/2 – H0-1 A1-1 (League)
2000/1 – H0-1 A1-2 (League), H2-0 (LDV Vans Trophy)
1999/2000 – H2-1 A1-2 (League), H0-1 (LDV Vans Trophy)
Summary
Overall |
Matches: 10 Southend United wins: 3 Cheltenham Town wins: 5 Draws: 2 Southend United goals: 10 Cheltenham Town goals: 10 Biggest Southend United win: 2-0 (Roots Hall; 9th August 2003; Nationwide League Division Three and Roots Hall; 5th December 2000; LDV Vans Trophy southern section first round) Biggest Cheltenham Town win: 2-1 (Whaddon Road; 5th May 2001; Nationwide League Division Three and Whaddon Road; 9th October 1999; Nationwide League Division Three) |
In The League |
Matches: 8 Southend United wins: 2 Cheltenham Town wins: 4 Draws: 2 Southend United goals: 8 Cheltenham Town goals: 9 Biggest Southend United win: 2-0 (Roots Hall; 9th August 2003; Division Three) Biggest Cheltenham Town win: 2-1 (Whaddon Road; 5th May 2001; Division Three and Whaddon Road; 9th October 1999; Division Three) |
At Roots Hall |
Matches: 6 Southend United wins: 3 Cheltenham Town wins: 3 Draws: 0 Southend United goals: 6 Cheltenham Town goals: 4 Biggest Southend United win: 2-0 (9th August 2003; Nationwide League Division Three) Biggest Cheltenham Town win: 1-0 (three occasions, two Nationwide League Division Three and one LDV Vans Trophy southern section first round) |
Robert Craven
www.thelittlegazette.com