Donohue's Marks Out Of Ten

GK Bart Griemink| Minutes on pitch: 90 | Goals Conceded: 0 | Rating: 7

The Blues number one continued his rich vein of form by pulling off a number of good saves notably from Asamoah in the second half as he used left foot to deny the Nottingham based side an earlier lead. Griemink could do very little about the goal and even the strongest of Flahavan fan’s would find little to criticise Griemink’s performance today. The Dutchman’s goalkeeping attributes were yet again at their very best.

RB Lewis Hunt | Minutes on pitch: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 6.5

Hunt’s general ability as a right-back continues to improve although his performance was slightly sub-standard. As I said after the Wycombe game Hunt is learning when and how to get forward as he makes good attacking runs around the right side of midfield. He is in fact building up a great on-field rapport with right midfielder Carl Pettefer. However today Hunt was, like many of the players, a little behind the pace and gave the ball away a little too many times.

CB Andy Edwards | Minutes on pitch: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 6

It was a sound performance from Edwards who done his best for Southend at all times in the game. Edwards battled hard and attempted to get his tackles in, of which he was successful with in the first half. However the second half appeared to take it’s toll on the 33 year old as playing two games in three days showed. I would not like this to be a slur on Edwards’ fitness because he was marking a very quick Derek Asamoah. Unfortunately this cost the Blues as Asamoah broke away before knocking it back for Paul Warne to scoring giving Mansfield all three points.

CB Adam Barrett | Minutes on pitch: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 7

Yet again, Barrett was very good in the air and was the key player in the defence. The former Bristol Rover’s captain followed up his great performance at Wycombe two days earlier with another dominating performance. He man marked Ritchie Barker very successfully for the entire match and therefore numbed most of the Town attacks, especially in the first half. In attacking phases of the game Barrett again showed his ability to dribble out of his own half as well as posing a threat in the air, going close from a Kevin Maher free-kick deep into the second half. Despite this Barrett hasn’t scored a goal since Southend’s visit to Yeovil on 20th November.

LB Che Wilson | Minutes on pitch: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 6.5

It was an effective performance from Wilson who stuck to his task going both backwards and forwards. Defensively Wilson was sound and done well to ensure that, through periods of pressure on the Southend goal, the Shrimpers went in at half time without conceding a goal. Offensively Wilson done very well, putting a number of dangerous balls in the penalty area. On another day these balls may have found strikers and consequently the back of the net. Weaknesses of Wilson included his distribution of the ball as many of his passes found white instead of blue shirts. In addition his heading was reminiscent of ‘Wilson of old’ as a lot of his headed balls was misdirected.

RM/LM Carl Pettefer | Minutes on pitch: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 6.5

Pettefer was reasonably effective on both wings as he scurried for possession and attempted to force attacks. Pettefer, as ever kept the ball very well and managed to attack well despite being frustrated by the team’s inability to keep the ball. The former Portsmouth midfielder done all he could to get in attacking areas from the midfield and contribute to the attack. Pettefer’s switch to the left wing made very little difference to his performance as his consistency and ability to play all across the midfield showed.

CM Mark Bentley | Minutes on pitch: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 8

MotM: It was a dominating performance from Bentley who’s brilliant season continues. In the final game of 2004 Bentley showed how far he had progressed since his move from Dagenham and Redbridge in January with a commanding performance in midfield. Bentley showed a true commitment to Southend today with crunching tackles all throughout the midfield. His willingness to win was shown when he over-enthusiastically fouled Adam Murray with a two-footed challenge. Bentley can consider himself very lucky to stay on the field of play as referee Mr. J. Robinson chose to show only a yellow rather than a red card. However Bentley’s commitment forced me to award him with the Man of the Match award.

CM Kevin Maher | Minutes on pitch: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 6

Maher appeared a frustrated under circumstances where Southend saw little of the ball. Maher’s usually excellent passing has been somewhat of a lesser ability in the last couple of games. The former Tottenham trainee was not composed in possession today and seemed to panic on every occasion that he got the ball. This could be because he is given less space by opposition due to the number of goals that have come through the feet of the Southend captain. Maher still is one of the most competitive players on the pitch and never gives up for a ball. His tackling in the midfield was also very good as it is always is.

LM Tesfaye Bramble | Minutes on pitch: 77 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 6.5

Previously I have commented on Bramble’s inability to play in wide positions although today he proved me wrong with a good performance on the wing. Bramble looked very sharp today and his quick touch allowed him to contribute to the attack. The Ipswich born player created a lot of space for himself and I felt that he became an influential player in the first half. Bramble was good in the first half although he faded a little in the second and eventually substituted.

CF/RM Wayne Gray | Mins on pitch: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 7

Wayne Gray continues to do a lot of hard work on every occasion that he wears a Southend shirt. This meeting with Mansfield Town was no different as he made lots of quick wide runs in order to create chances, not just for himself but for the team. On one occasion in the first half Gray made a great run to the left side of the field where he received the ball. Running at the defence Gray put a great ball across the box with his left however nobody could get on the end of the ball and the ball flashed passed the goal. However the former Wimbledon man’s chances were limited throughout the game as he struggled to be involved with the game. He became less involved when he was moved to the right-wing. Gray did miss a great chance late on as he tried to head the ball goalwards rather than using his feet.

CF Freddy Eastwood | Minutes on pitch: 90 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 6.5

Fresh from his great match winning strike against Wycombe Eastwood started the game brightly and when he got the ball looked very sharp. However Eastwood’s unwillingness to distribute the ball was again his failure as he was caught in possession by an alert Mansfield defence, often with two or three players around him. Eastwood’s second half performance was merely a shadow of his best ability and became frustrated. This was emphasised when Mansfield scored and he struggled to get involved in the game at all.

CF Lawrie Dudfield | Minutes on pitch: 13 | Goals: 0 | Assists: 0 | Rating: 7

Dudfield looked very sharp as he replaced Tes Bramble in the second half. Although he had only a short period of time on the pitch Lawrie chased everything down and tried his best to make a goal for himself. His goal appeared to have come in the dying minutes of he match but a dubious assistants flag ruled the attempt out. Having spoken to Mansfield manager Carlton Palmer after the game he felt that the goal was ruled out for ‘an infringement’ although Dudfield himself confirmed that the goal was ruled out for offside. I’m not entirely sure who could have been offside but the assistant seemed sure with his decision, so I suppose we have to live with this one.