Steve Tilson brought his side into their first fixture on English soil since that historic day at Roots Hall when Wayne Gray's 82nd minute goal capped off a memorable 2005/06 season in style, as the Blues lifted the League One title.
And they were doing it again at
Onto the action of what was a one sided affair on the attacking front, perhaps as expected. Freddy Eastwood, new short haircut included, had certainly shown no signs of lacking fitness and crashed a low-driven cross-shot onto Richard McKinney's right hand post after only six minutes, the ball rebounding away to safety.
Michael Ricketts then hit a tame shot over the crossbar from outside the box from a tight angle, before Eastwood was once again denied a goal – this time by the referee's assistant. Mitchell Cole had slipped the ball through to his former Gray's team-mate, but 22-year old Eastwood dinked the ball over the on-rushing
Che Wilson was next to have a try for the boys in blue, bursting into the penalty area and sliding a cross-shot just wide of the far post.
It wasn't until the second half that the Championship side finally broke the deadlock – 18-year-old James Lawson heading in Mark Gower's free-kick virtually unchallenged in what was as much as anything a rare defensive lapse from an otherwise bold looking City backline.
Towards the end of the game there were more chances: Lawson lunging in to try and convert Gower's cross only to put wide with Campbell-Ryce also waiting and Freddy also had one more effort, this time firing over the bar from six yards.
However Southend had to be content with the solitary goal victory in what Steve Tilson described as ‘a very good pre-season exercise' for his players, who continue their build-up to the new season with another game against another local side Great Wakering Rovers on Wednesday night.
Teams:
1 Richard McKinney
2 Peter Smith
3 Stuart Bimson
4 Ben Chenery (C)
5 Steve Ward
6 Jay Conroy
7 Mario Noto
8 Jeff Minton
9 Tony Battersby
10 Jason Hallett
11 Dominic Carmianti
12 Liam Hopkins (On for Hallett, 11)
13 Ricky Holmes (On for Conroy, 75)
14 Mitchell Lowes (On for Smith, 46)
15 Tom Byrne (On for Carmianti, 18)
16 Dean Cross (On for for Bimson, 67)
Southend United
First Half
1 Simon Collis
2 Simon Francis
3 Che Wilson
4 Spencer Prior
5 Adam Barrett
6 Jay Smith
7 Lee Bradbury
8 Kevin Maher (C)
9 Michael Ricketts
10 Freddy Eastwood
11 Mitchell Cole
Second Half
1 Simon Collis
2 Lewis Hunt
3 Steven Hammell
4 Simon Francis
5 Adam Barrett
6 Luke Guttridge
7 Jamal Campbell-Ryce
8 Abdurrahman Mssassi
9 James Lawson
10 Freddy Eastwood
11 Mark Gower
Adam Duffill
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*Wednesday nights friendly at Great Wakering Rovers is all ticket and none will be available for purchase on the night. Tickets are priced at £10 for adults and £5 for concessions. Kick-off