After that the Latics seemed to be struggling when their hosts enjoyed the better of the opening half and took the lead at the start of the second period.
In fact, if the home side had taken the lead in the first 45 it would have given the scoreline a fairer look. Christophe hitting the post and Clarke heading home but finding the offside flag raised.
Veteran Oldham keeper Crossley seemed unable to handle anything that came at him in the air while the wind caused several Latic clearances to clear the stands!
However, Blues eventually went one up when Simon Francis delivered a fantastic right-wing cross into the path of striker James Walker and he volleyed the ball into the back of the net from six yards for his first league goal of the season.
But Southend, who began the day just one place below Oldham, failed to build on the opener and they allowed the visitors back into the game.
Adam Federici had already done well to deny both Lee Hughes and Darren Byfield before Chris Taylor finally drew the visitors level with a near post header from Andy Liddell's right-wing corner in the 67th minute.
Oldham then made sure of the win when Hughes latched onto a Taylor free-kick to volley into the bottom left-hand corner of the net at the back post.
John Sheridan's side comfortably held on to the advantage and secured a winning return to Roots Hall for their midfielder Kevin Maher who spent ten seasons with Southend before being released last summer.
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