Craven's Marks Out Of Ten

GK Darryl Flahavan | Mins on pitch: 90 | Goals Conceded: 1 | Rating: 7.5

Generally, Flahavan did very little wrong in what where especially tough conditions for a goalkeeper. He had to deal with a slippery ball and heavy rain, but he did so manfully, and was only beaten by one outstanding shot from Kevin Street. If I see anyone mention that he could have got even close to a terrific effort with the outside of his right-boot, then I will be very disappointed.

Flavs made one excellent second half save from Duane Darby who had a very testing shot; he also made good stops from Luke Rodgers and Sam Aiston, so can be pretty proud of his day’s work. His lack of energy for set-pieces remains a worry – his communication, though, has come on leaps and bounds, and he was trying to lift the side in the first half persistently.

RB Duncan Jupp | Minutes on pitch: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 3.5

Jupp has gone from one of the better performers at the start of the season to a poor imitation of a professional footballer in just a couple of weeks. I’ve no doubt that he is trying hard, but he probably failed to find a red shirt in the whole ninety minutes, and it was not as though he did not see a lot of the ball. If he did get close to Sam Aiston, then he was terrorised, and the amount of times he surrendered possession was truly criminal. Yellow card at least takes him closer to a suspension…

CB Spencer Prior | Minutes on pitch: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 4.5

The former Norwich City centre-half has returned to the sort of poor form that plagued him at the outset of the current campaign. His selection of what to do was appalling – a lack of pace at the age of 33 yopu can forgive, but diving on the floor to head a ball when you could use your feet is diabolical, and his lack of urgency is disappointing to all who still feel that he has SUFC running through his veins. Perhaps a swap for Andy Edwards should come sooner rather than later.

CB Adam Barrett | Minutes on pitch: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 5.5

Unfortunately for Southend they were not let down by just one member of their back four, but just about all four! To be fair to Barrett, these were difficult conditions to play in and he adjusted the best of the quartet, and at the end of the day the stats read that Blues only conceded one goal, and that was a super-strike as well, so defiance was pretty strong. Barrett again made poor decisions, and just looked a little less solid that he has previously.

LB Che Wilson | Minutes on pitch: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 5

It is coming to something when the left-back of a side has to be told where to throw the ball by his goalkeeper. Wilson sometimes just seems a little clueless, but then some of his traits have clearly been taught. Leon Cort was always a great defender for standing off his man and allowing him to get into the penalty area before getting the tackle in – when Spinner and Che allowed Kevin Street to do that a quarter-of-an-hour in he fired the ball into the net.

RM/LM Carl Pettefer | Mins on pitch: 90 | Gls: 0 | Assists: 1 | Rating: 5.5

Once again, maybe the rating is a touch harsh on Pettefer, especially since he created the Shrimpers goal, but aside from that ten-minute spell wither side of an excellent cross for Wayne Gray to head home from close range, Petts was largely anonymous. He did his fair share of work at the back, but he and Mark Gower perhaps should have been trying to instigate more quick breaks themselves rather than relying on Lewis Hunt.

CM Lewis Hunt | Minutes on pitch: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 7

Steve Tilson copped a fair bit of stick from some quarters – and that includes me to a certain extent – for persisting with Hunt, although the former Derby County man did have a very impressive match at Glanford park. I certainly feel that at home, a Hunt/Maher midfield pairing is far too negative, and against teams at the bottom such as Shrewsbury then the situation is similar.

That said, Hunt probably made more runs from the centre of midfield than the rest of his team-mates in the middle did, and despite just failing to get a couple of inch perfect passes through, and heading a decent Maher corner disappointingly over the crossbar, he did provide a similar drive and enthusiasm as Bentley would normally do. Interesting to see where he fits in against Northampton Town.

CM Kevin Maher | Minutes on pitch: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 5

Again, not great from the man who should be inspiring the side. He did battle hard, particularly in the second half, but by then his abject display had taken its toll. Too often Maher surrendered the ball when he ought to have the ability to keep it, given his supposed talent that pops up every now and then. Blows hot and cold, and this was like a Saturday morning at Boots & Laces in January.

LM Mark Gower | Minutes on pitch: 76 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 6.5

Most decent moves came through the ex-Spurs youngster as usual. Although not at full fitness, he was still possibly a better option on the left-flank than Jimmy Corbett would have been – at least when he receives the ball he has the pace to take people on, and now that he has confidence as well, he should improve game-by-game. Passing was the best in the team.

CF Freddy Eastwood | Mins on pitch: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 6

This sort of game should lower the hype surrounding the striker. At the moment the whole Coca-Cola League seems to be interested in the 20-year-old, and when it comes to a signature, that can only be bad for Southend United. Today he was not poor – although he had a couple of chances from close in that he managed to timidly strike by the post rather than sweep in – but he did concede possession more than he has before. Now the test is on to reproduce his old form again.

CF Wayne Gray | Minutes on pitch: 90 | Goals: 1 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 8

MotM: Not only did Gray get the goal, he also deserved it for the work that he put in. Southend forwards have a tendency to shirk the workload the fans expect of them – Tesfaye Bramble is branded ‘lazy’, even if he often tracks back to defend corners with much aplomb. Eastwood could be the same, and Gray got the flak early on.

However, the ex-Wimbledon man has now cleaned up his act, got his game together and importantly scored and set up goals. He is brimming with confidence and chasing everything. You feel that given the chance he will snap it up – hopefully this sort of football continues until the end of the season and the Shrimpers should be in the Play-Offs!

RM Mark Bentley | Minutes on pitch: 14 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 6

Just over a quarter-of-an-hour including injury time at the end of the game for Beno, who undoubtedly is required to drive the team on. He didn’t have much chance, but he did get stuck in, and received a disgraceful clout in the head from Jake Sedgemore for his troubles.