Southend United 2 Rushden & Diamonds 1

Kevin Maher had already sent a low shot into the arms of Diamonds goalkeeper Billy Turley before a superb Dominic Foley through ball on four minutes picked out the well timed run of Mark Rawle who sprinted clear of the visiting defence before taking his time and placing a neat shot beyond the reach of the onrushing Turley, the ball bouncing in off of the foot of the post.

Then, just two minutes later the lead was doubled in sensational fashion. Rawle chased a ball down towards the corner flag before hooking a bicycle kick back into the penalty area where Barry Hunter headed the ball out as far as Damon Searle who, almost 40 yards from goal, crashed a simply superb half volley into the top right hand corner of the net.

On 12 minutes perhaps the Shrimpers advantage could have been extended further, when they were bizarrely denied what seemed to be a blatant penalty when Foley was wrestled to the ground by Marcus Bignot. Referee Colin Penton, who had a terrible match, waved away United's furious appeals.

Foley's fierce volley from a neat Daniel Marney cross brought a decent block out of Diamonds defender John Dempster.

The visiting team soon got into the match themselves however and began to cause Southend problems. Darryl Flahavan did well to hold onto a long range David Bell effort before Hunter headed a Bell corner inches wide.

Flahavan did ever so well to tip a Bell free kick over the crossbar before Rushden pulled a goal back in rather freak circumstances. A dangerous Bell cross was missed by a series of Diamonds attackers before Hunter's header dropped to the feet of United defender Stephen Kelly who, at the second attempt, had the misfortunate to slice the ball into his own net at the far post.

The second half saw United somewhat on the back foot as Rob Newman's men seemed content to hold onto their slender advantage. Paul Hall screwed a shot badly wide following a Bignot cross on 58 minutes before, at the other end, Cort headed a Maher free kick at Turley.

Foley ran onto a neat Mark Beard through ball, but having broken clear of the Rushden rearguard, the loanee striker shot wide of the target. Rawle was then put in an identical situation, but having roundedTurley, the quick striker was his shot blocked by Mark Peters.

The last action of an exciting encounter then saw Foley curl a 25 yard free kick at Turley.

SOUTHEND UNITED (4-42, with ratings out of ten):- Darryl Flahavan 7; Daryl Sutch 7, Damon Searle 7, Stephen Kelly 7, Leon Cort 7; Kevin Maher 6, Jay Smith 8 (Stuart Thurgood 79, 8), Daniel Marney 6, Steven Clark 6 (Mark Beard 74, 7); Mark Rawle 7, Dominic Foley 7. Unused subs - Mark Salter, Tom Jordan, Daniel Gay

RUSHDEN & DIAMONDS (4-4-2):- Billy Turley; Marcus Bignot, Paul Underwood, Barry Hunter, John Dempster (Mark Peters 78); Gary Mills (Andy Burgess 36), Stewart Wardley, David Bell (Duane Darby 46), Stuart Gray; Paul Hall, Tony Battersby. Unused subs - Gary Setchell, Andrew Sambrook.

TLG MAN OF THE MATCH: Jay Smith.
In what was more of a solid rather than spectacular performance, it was the effort and skill shown by midfielder Smith that earns him another man-of-the-match award. One superb peice of skill out on the goalline near the corner flag in the second half saw Smith brilliantly brilliantly turn two defenders and sprint towards goal when it seemed he had nowhere to go. A very energetic performance from a player who was always looking to make something happen.

Attendance: 6,453 (approx 475 away fans).
Referee: Colin Penton (Woodingdean) 3 out of 10.

Mark Wallis
www.thelittlegazette.com