Undoubtedly Southend, whose side was unchanged from the Rovers encounter, enjoyed by far the best of the match and not only were full value for their victory but really should have secured it by much more than one goal to nil.

The Seasiders, boosted by their near 1,000-strong support, took the initiative right from the start and after just six minutes Leon Constantine's sprint into the penalty area brought a fine shot and save out of U's goalkeeper Shaun Marshall before the tall striker headed over Marshall but saw his looping effort hacked away by Stevland Angus.

A rare bright spell from the home side, around the quater-hour mark, saw John Turner head over Darryl Flahavan's crossbar following a decent cross from Charlton Athletic loanee Neil McCafferty. Nippy midfielder Luke Gutteridge then saw a fierce shot blocked by the long legs of Shrimpers defender Leon Cort.

Mark Gower, looking as lively and dangerous as ever on the Southend wing saw a shot after a neat run zip just wide of the post before a superb peice of play by Neil Jenkins put Constantine through on goal, although at somewhat of an angle Constantine decided to lay the ball back to Jay Smith who drove a 20 yard effort within a whisker of the outside of the left hand upright.

As Southend looked odds-on to grab the lead Lewis Hunt came remarkably close to finding the newt when his diving header from a Gower corner flashed past the post but with the next chance, on 38 minutes, the goal finally arrived. Tesfaye Bramble, enjoying yet another determined performance, found Constantine in an identical position to his last opportunity, however this time the striker seized upon his chance and cut back before delivering a superb left-footed drive across Marshall and into the bottom right hand corner from eight yards. It was the tall strikers eleventh goal of the campaign and meant that his side comfortably went in a goal ahead at the interval.

Of course the huge following from South Essex were delighted that their side were in the lead, but the half time talk was that the advantage should be greater and of course at just one goal ahead the opposition has still got every chance of a fightback.

In all honesty though Cambridge rarely looked like breaching the strong Southend reaguard after the break and whebever they did look to be finding a way through either Hunt or Leon Cort made sure that the attack progressed no further, with Cambridge - featuring ex-Shrimper Daniel Webb in their front line - becoming ever more frustrated. Indeed the Abbey Stadium outfit have won less home games than our own Shrimpers, who, incidentally, have now picked up four more points on their travels than at home, an even stranger feat seeing as the Shrimpers were defeared in all four of the opening away fixtures.

Anyhow the second half followed to a very similar pattern to its predecessor, the only difference of course being that Southend never doubled their lead. Still, against a shot-shy Cambridge side who were obviously missing strikers David Kitson and Shane Tudor, the one-goal always looked to be enough.

Five minutes into the second half saw Gower drill a shot into the arms of Marshall before an inswinging corner from the ex-Barnet man saw Bramble nod a header back to Che Wilson who fired just over the crossbar from the edge of the area.

Cambridge's only real chance of the second period saw Adam Tann head off target from a Turner cross, but with no firther worries it was Southend who enjoyed the last chance if the game, seven minutes from time, when Bramble stabbed a shot just over the angle of crosbar and post following an impressive run and cross from Smith.

Another away day safely negotiated, but all the side's around the Shrimpers in the Division Three table all won aswell so the visit of Oxford United in two days time becomes another must-win match for Southend. Bristol Rovers apart, the home form seems to be coming together so let's hope Steve Tilson stakes another claim for the manager's job on a permanent basis with victory over the side from England's other varsity city.

Mark Wallis
www.thelittlegazette.com