AFC Bournemouth 1 Southend United 0

Blues Caretaker boss Stewart Robson stuck with the same side that beat Darlington the previous weekend with Mark Rawle once again the lone man upfront with the Shrimpers adopting a five-man midfield.

There is no doubt the Southend started brightly but unfortunately the Essex side's confidence is at rock bottom and when United go behind, heads appear to drop and this was certainly the case against a Bournemouth side who despite being fourth in the table, are certainly nothing special. Indeed the home side's winning goal eventually proved to be their only effort on target during the ninety minutes. Unfortunately the Shrimpers, through Kevin Maher, could only muster one as well.

It was in just the nonth minute the the decisive goal arrived and the visitors will be very disappointed at how it was conceded. Wade Elliott picked the ball up in the centre circle and picked out Danny Thomas on the left flank with a marvellous ball, but the dangerous Thomas was left completely alone with virtually half the field to himself and he had no problems in taking his time to pick out Stephen Purches, also completely unmarked in the penalty area, whose diving header realy should have brought a comfortable save out of Darryl Flahavan, but it wasn't to be and the ball sailed past the Shrimpers custodian.

As a contest the match was now over to be honest. Bournemouth huffed and puffed a lot but never really got anywhere, managing double figures in both corners and efforts off target but never again threatening th United goal. Southend could however count themselves unlucky on a couple of occassions as the vicoferous, and to be honest, rather grumpy, home crowd clearly had the better of referee Richard Beeby who somehow only brandished a yellow card to Steve Fletcher for violent conduct despite the big striker clearly laying David McSweeney out with a hefty right hook.

Captain Maher had what seemed like a vewry justified appeal for a penalty having been tripped in the box of Elliott mid-way through the second half, but the appeals seemed to go un-noticed by Beeby.

United's only effort on target actually came from one of the best moves of the game. A twisting run by Rawle finding Maher who's neat low shot brought a fine stop out of former Southampton shot stopper Neil moss who is in his second spell with the Cherries this season.

Unfortunately however that effort wasn't enough to satisfy the rather muted Southend following and United have surely got to be looking to take something from at least one of their two remaining away fixtures; at Boston United on Easter Monday and Exeter City on the final day, but with both these matches against sides threatened with the drop it seems unlikely.

A dismally disappointimg season is now fizzling out with Southend just about safe from relegation and everyone, your reporter included, is now simply looking ahead to August and the new campaign.

AFC BOURNEMOUTH (4-4-2):- Neil Moss; Neil Young, Warren Cummings, Carl Fletcher, Lewis Buxton; Marcus Browning, Stephen Purches, Wade Elliott (Philip Gulliver 85), Danny Thomas (Brian Stock 88); Steve Fletcher, James Hayter (Scott McDonald 74). Unused subs - Derek Holmes, Gareth Stewart.

SOUTHEND UNITED (4-5-1, with ratings out of ten):- Darryl Flahavan 5; Ronnie Henry 5 (Mark Beard 60, 6), Damon Searle 6, Leon Cort 7m David McSweeney 7; Kevin Maher 4, Gavin Strachan 5, Neil Jenkins 5, Brett Darby 5 (Mark Salter 46, 7), Steven Clark 3 (Tom Jordan 83); Mark Rawle 6. Unused subs - Stuart Thurgood, Daniel Gay.

TLG MAN OF THE MATCH: Leon Cort.
Nobody stood out in this poor Shrimpers performance but defender Cort was generally a steady performer throughout. There is no doubt that either Cort or David McSweenety should have picked up Stephen Purches for what proved to be the only goal of the game. However regardless of who was to blame Cort was certainly as committed to the cause as ever.

Attendance: 6,767 (approx 275 away fans).
Referee: Richard Beeby (Northamptonshire) 5 out of 10.

Mark Wallis
www.thelittlegazette.com