It was the third time this season that Steve Tilson's men had been beaten on the road, and at the same time making it 100% of losses on away soil in the current campaign.
There were two changes for the Blues, as Billy Paynter led the line for the Shrimpers, replacing the injured Lee Bradbury, and Peter Clarke was brought in at Spencer Prior's expense.
The match itself began superbly well for the away side, as Southend, wearing the red third strip, went with a very attacking approach whilst also holding onto the ball well in the midfield area.
Steve Hammell was first to test stand-in Leicester ‘keeper Henderson, who did well to hold onto the Scottish international's rising left-footed drive from 20 yards after ten minutes. The Blues really should have made a decent goalscoring opportunity some five minutes later as Jamal Campbell-Ryce chased down the right flank, but despite running down the touchline towards goal, somehow didn't pick out a Southend shirt with the net waiting to be hit.
However, whilst Campbell-Ryce's pass was wasteful, Luke Guttridge will probably feel even guiltier that he didn't do more with the chance that was provided to him. Campbell-Ryce, again causing problems for the Leicester left back Patrick McCarthy, sped down the right and delivered a perfect cut-back for Guttridge, who with no-one within five yards of him fired over the crossbar with the whole goal to aim at.
That miss proved very costly for United, as they conceded very shortly afterwards. With five minutes remaining of the first half, Campbell-Ryce failed to clear the ball away from the corner of the Southend half and having been disposed, Adam Barrett slid in to concede City's first corner of the game.
Questions will once again be asked of the marking, and it appears the Shrimpers still need to work on marking from set pieces and they will need to do it fast, so not to be exposed more frequently this season from set plays. Ironically, away from home four of the six goals conceded by the Blues have come from set pieces, an area in which last season didn't cause any serious problems for Steve Tilson's men.
The second half was certainly more uneventful than the first, with chances few and far between for both sides. Bar some scrappy midfield play, there wasn't really much to note for the first twenty minutes of the half, however the game then came to life a bit more, as City's Levi Porter smashed a shot from the edge of the box straight at Darryl Flahavan.
This was shortly followed up by the Foxes best chance of the second half, with Iain Hume firing Josh Low's pull back onto the crossbar, and the rebound falling kindly for Stephen Hughes who shot over from close range.
Southend then had a great opportunity to score as Kevin Maher's corner wasn't cleared properly by the
With the away side pushing forward in numbers, desperately chasing the equaliser, Leicester almost grabbed a second goal on the counter attack as Levi Porter charged towards the Shrimpers penalty area, beating Francis and Clarke before passing to Hume who was once again frustrated in front of goal – Darryl Flahavan pushing his shot away.
Out of desperation, Spencer Prior and James Lawson were brought on for Paynter and Campbell-Ryce, with Prior and Barrett joining Eastwood in attack and Lawson going onto the right hand side of midfield. And it was Prior who could have easily grabbed a crucial goal as he missed Southend's best chance of the game.
Steve Hammell's corner was hung up at the back post and after Peter Clarke had headed the ball across goal, Prior rose above his marker but somehow, with
It was then Adam Barrett's turn to go incredibly close with five minutes left on the clock. After Mitchell Cole had been scythed down the left hand side of the pitch, just outside the penalty area, Kevin Maher swung in the resulting free-kick and Barrett met it at the front post, heading the ball into the ground only to watch the ball fly harmlessly over the crossbar and out for a goal kick.
It was a battling end to the game by the Essex Boys, but by then it was too little too late and Southend will have to play for the full ninety minutes rather than in periods of the match if they are to pick up a respectable tally of points from their away fixtures this term.
By Adam Duffill
www.thelittlegazette.com