Southend United 1 Swansea City 2

Both sides went into this game nervously due to all the media attention and obviously, the leagues top spot at stake – and unsurprisingly both managers went with their strongest possible squads. Steve Tilson kept the same side that defeated Barnet last Saturday, however Kenny Jackett went with Owain Tudor-Jones instead of captain Roberto Martinez.

In a shaky opening couple of minutes for both teams, Southend carved out the first chance of the match as Luke Guttridge volleyed wide following some good headed play by both Shaun Goater and Kevin Maher.

Just after the ten minute mark, and Swansea were on the attack and it would not be the last time in the half either. Lee Trundle’s lay-off was hammered forcefully towards goal by Kevin McLeod, but Bart Griemink held the goal-bound shot well.

Trundle was again involved on 14 minutes as he collected Leon Britton’s through pass and his shot took a deflection which helped it past Griemink, who was already rushing to meet the forward at the time, but fortunately for the Blues, Lewis Hunt managed to claw the ball off of the goal-line and out of danger.

The charismatic 27-year-old then sent a superb ball down the line to winger McLeod following some great trickery, he then sent a whizzing cross into the penalty area and Adebayo Akinfenwa was only centimetres away from giving the Swans a crucial lead just after the 20 minute mark.

However, Swansea did grab the lead on the stroke of half time. And yes it was Lee Trundle. A long ball forward from captain-for-the-day Alan Tate was flicked on by Akinfenwa, and Trundle found himself with plenty of room to stab the ball through Griemink’s legs and into the net from eight yards.

This rattled the Shrimpers who had no time to respond as the referee ended the first half, but it wasn’t about to get any better for Steve Tilson’s high-flying team.

As Steve Tilson was cringing once again, Kenny Jackett became an even happier man as Trundle somehow managed to beat three or four players in an enclosed space at the by-line, before pulling the ball back for the grateful Akinfenwa who duly scored his seventh goal of the season. Two minutes into the second half and Swansea edging closer to victory, whilst Southend had a mountain to climb.

Kevin Maher nearly got the Blues back into the game as his 64^th minute thunderbolt was well held by French ‘keeper Willy Gueret following a failed corner routine by the Seasiders. However, whilst Maher can consider himself unlucky, Mitchell Cole should be angry at himself. After some superb play between Freddy Eastwood and Shaun Goater, Maher put in a superb cross on his weaker left foot only for Cole, who was unmarked and six yards away from goal, to place his weak header straight at Gueret.

It could have been fatal as McLeod once again saw a chance go begging – this time as his 67^th minute volley at the far post rolled agonisingly wide of the post, as his attempt to shoot the ball across goal failed.

The game suddenly became an end-to-end affair – similar to the same fixture last season except this time Eastwood didn’t take every chance that came his way. Jamal Campbell-Ryce played a superb swinging cross to the far post that evaded everyone, other than Eastwood, who somehow headed wide from short range with the goal gaping. In all fairness to Eastwood, there was a fair chance of a collision with the goalpost so he may have taken his eye off of the ball for a split second.

Eastwood had his eye firmly on the ball when he next chance arrived though. Kevin Maher’s corner was excellently won in the air by Wayne Gray, who had come on as a substitute for Shaun Goater minutes earlier, and Eastwood reacted quicker than anybody else to divert the ball into the back of the net. With seven minutes to go it was 2-1 and game on.

Suddenly Southend began an assault towards the City goal. Mark Bentley slammed the ball over the crossbar with five minutes to go following a lovely touch from Freddy, James Lawson picked up a loose ball inside the area and saw his left foot shot scrape the crossbar as it also went over.

United tried desperately for an equaliser, but in the end it was just too little too late as Swansea began their celebrations for the way home.

By Adam Duffill
www.thelittlegazette.com