Southend United 3 Hull City 0

Jay Smith netted a brace.

Newman made two changes from the side that was harshly beaten at Scunthorpe United seven days earlier with goalkeeper Darryl Flahavan returning from a groin injury to replace Daniel Gay between the sticks and Stephen Kelly, a 19-year old loan signing from Tottenham Hotspur made his debut in the centre of defence replacing suspended Mark Beard whilst Daryl Sutch switched to right back.

The match got off to a very slow start, with City midfielder Ryan Williams' shot, which was blocked by Leon Cort, the only real effort worthy of note before United took the lead in spectacular fashion on 22 minutes. Winger Steven Clark, who has chipped in with much improved performances over recent weeks, knocked a ball across the edge of the penalty area where Jay Smith was on hand to smash home a simply unstoppable shot into the top left hand corner past City debutant Alan Fettis.

Justin Whittle headed a Stuart Green corner over the top ten minutes later, but the Tigers, whose away form has been lacking somewhat this season, barely threatened the Shrimpers rearguard after that.

On 38 minutes a rather bizarre incident occured when referee Andy Penn pulled up with what seemed to be a calf injury, after a delay of nearly five minutes, Penn was replaced by one of his assistants, Peter Kirkup. Minutes later the 4,534-strong crowd chuckled away as a tannoy announcement requested that any qualified referee report to their nearest steward to volunteer for fourth official duties! Eventually former Roots Hall groundsman Neil West, a regularly in the Southend Borough Combination, stepped forward to adopt the role.

Southend then increased their lead on 41 minutes, Mark Rawle latched onto a loose ball and as Fettis advanced forward, the pacey striker slipped a low shot into the bottom corner of the net.

Tes Bramble's curling 20 yard shot was pushed around the post by Fettis before the match erupted into high controversy, of which Bramble was at the forefront, on the stroke of half time. As winger Daniel Marney burst into the area he was blatantly hauled to the floor by Whittle and stand-in referee Kirkup had no hesitation in pinting to the penalty spot. However as Smith lined-up to take the kick Bramble appeared to raise an arm towards Marc Joseph. Whether the United striker actually made contact was hard to judge, but Kirkup brandished a red card at Bramble, reducing Southend to ten men. Smith then ended the Shrimpers recent penalty jinx by sending Fettis the wrong way to put United into a commanding three goal lead.

Tes Bramble was sent-off, it seemed to be a harsh decision.

Having lost a player, Southend were content to sit back and hold on to their lead, and in all honesty it made for a very dull second period which was only livened up by the redicolous amount of times that Hull players smashed misplaced passes oit of play. City midfielder Steve Melton's curling shot was easily gathered by Flahavan on 64 minutes before Fettis did ever so well to hold onto a fierce effort from Marney.

As the match approached it closing stages, a low Marney cross was almost diverted into his own net by Tigers defender John Anderson. Damien Delaney's low shot was easy picking for Flahavan before the last half chance of the match saw Kevin Maher's dangerous cross bounce off of the top of the crossbar.

SOUTHEND UNITED (4-4-2, with ratings out of 10):- Darryl Flahavan 7; Daryl Sutch 7, Damon Searle 7, Stephen Kelly 7, Leon Cort 7; Kevin Maher 7, Jay Smith 9, Daniel Marney 7, Steven Clark 8 (Stuart Thurgood 90); Mark Rawle 8 (Barrington Belgrave 68, 7), Tes Bramble 6 (Sent-off 45). Unused subs - Tom Jordan, Mark Salter, Daniel Gay.

HULL CITY (4-4-2):- Alan Fettis; Carl Regan, Andy Hol (Steve Burton 46)t, Justin Whittle, Marc Joseph; Steve Melton, Damien Delaney, Stuart Green (John Anderson 46), Ryan Williams; Jamie Forrester, Stuart Elliott (Daniel Webb 46). Unused subs - Lawrie Dudfield, Paul Musselwhite.

TLG MAN OF THE MATCH: Jay Smith.
Yet another brilliant performance from a midfielder who is bang on form at the moment. A superb battling display, Smith was dominant right to the end, capping the performance off with a brace of goals, the first of which arrived from a terrific twenty yard shot.

Attendance: 4,534 (approx 475 away fans)
Referee: Andy Penn (West Midlands) 6 out of 10, replaced on 38 mins by Peter Kirkup (Northampton) 4 out of 10.

Mark Wallis
www.thelittlegazette.com