But it was a spectacular Stevie Hammell free-kick and Mark Gower's last minute strike that will be most memorable in Southend minds as the 11,072 crowd were treated to a truly fantastic game of football.
The match started as it ended – at a frantic pace with Southend clearly desperate to grab an early goal. Freddy Eastwood did just that nine minutes into the contest, skilfully stretching and controlling Adam Barrett's long ball forward, before turning away from Jason Shackell half-volleying the ball past Paul Gallagher and into the bottom corner of the net.
Norwich were stunned, as were their travelling army of supporters, at conceding so early into the game and looked to hit back quickly, with Dickson Etuhu and Rob Earnshaw both going close with long range efforts in quick succession just two minutes after Eastwood's opener.
Just after 35 minutes however, the Shrimpers did concede the lead and perhaps unsurprisingly, it was the Welsh international striker Earnshaw who got the goal. Having sped in behind Peter Clarke he met the ball with his head, and despite Darryl Flahavan blocking the Welshman's first effort, Earnshaw couldn't miss as he tucked the ball home from all of four yards out. The traditional acrobatic celebration from the 5ft 8ins tall forward followed, as the Blues defence looked at each other wondering how they had just surrendered their lead.
Things went from bad to worse for the Seasiders and good to amazing for the Canaries three minutes later. Earnshaw again found himself in the right place at the right time, as the Southend defence failed to clear a goalmouth scramble and Earnshaw's right footed shot squeezed past Flahavan and rolled into the ‘keepers right hand corner of the net.
That goal meant that the Shrimpers went in 2-1 down at the break, which was unthinkable considering how much of the better side they had been for much of the half.
Another costly defensive mistake was to cost Steve Tilson's men another goal ten minutes into the second half, and would give United a mountain to climb. After Billy Paynter had lost possession of the ball,
At this stage Southend appeared at rock bottom, and three points was almost assured for Nigel Worthington's away team. However, credit must go to Blues boss Steve Tilson, who took a gamble that proved to change the match altogether. Tilson opted to make all three substitutions seven minutes after the Canaries third goal, with Paynter, Campbell-Ryce and Guttridge being replaced by Hooper, Hunt and Harrold coming on. Tilson also decided on changing the formation of the side, a very rare move for the Blues boss, as Southend reverted to a
This move proved decisive as
From the resulting free-kick, Steve Hammell superbly fired the ball over the top of the wall and past the helpless Paul Gallagher as the ball flew into the top corner of the net. It was truly a spectacular effort, and all joking aside Roberto Carlos may well have been proud of the effort had he of scored it.
With Southend beginning to become frustrated as the game grew older, the Blues had numerous efforts stopped as Gower and Eastwood both went close, and in the 93rd minute referee Uriah Rennie had his whistle in his mouth when the Seasiders finally broke the deadlock.
In one last try at breaking the Norwich defence down, Freddy Eastwood ran past right back Colin and saw his left-foot shot parried in front of goal by Gallagher, and whilst the ball was just too far behind Lewis Hunt to shoot, fortunately Mark Gower took a touch with his right boot before smashing the ball high into the net from close range, and sending the home fans into pandemonium.
As soon as Norwich restarted the game, referee Rennie blew his whistle for full time, and confirming that the Blues had snatched a point with the last attack of the game, and at the same time confirming the Shrimpers unbeaten record at home this season as well as making sure that Southend managed to take something from a truly breathtaking game of football.
By Adam Duffill
www.thelittlegazette.com