Southend United 1-1 Stockport
Southend United were left hanging on for a point at Roots Hall this afternoon after Dan Harding's red card.
It'll be the most talked about moment of the game, but Harding completely deserved the dismissal after going in, unnecessarily, two-footed on a Stockport player. Whether he won the ball or lost his footing, Harding should know the laws of the game by now and referee Trevor Kettle had no option but to send the Southend defender off.
It was a huge shame for two main reasons. Firstly - up to that point - there were no cautions in a game played in glorious sunshine by two footballing sides. It seemed a shame to spoil an entertaining game. Secondly, Harding was having another excellent game, solid at the back and getting forward to pose a threat down the left whenever he could. Most of the crowd was shocked and immediately berated the referee but if they see it again, most will have a different opinion.
Both sides enjoyed the share of possession in the opening exchanges. Lee Sawyer was looking bright going forward, while Jean-Francois Christophe was using his presence to good effect in the middle. The home side took the lead on 19 when Adam Federici's inch perfect goal kick was met by Alex Revell's head. His delicate touch sent Lee Barnard away, who beat the offside trap, took it around one defender before finishing from around 18 yards past Fraser Forster.
The Shrimpers were restricting their visitors to long distance shots and although Stockport enjoyed some good passing, their final ball was never good enough to get past a strong backline. Well, a strong backline apart from Simon Francis. I worry he's regressing back to the 06-07 season. Too many times the right back looked lazy or his pass didn't find a team-mate. His crossing was appalling today and was caught out on more than one occasion when he should have been tracking his man. Against a high work-rate side like Stockport, Francis is exposed. He needs to buck his ideas up and start performing. However, who's fighting for his place? Possibly Osei Sankofa, but he's likely to be included for the next three games anyway, as the Blues reshuffle the pack to replace Harding.
The Blues ended the first period stronger. Christophe should have doubled the lead on 31 when Harding's free-kick found the midfielder at the far post, but he appeared to get very little on the ball - perhaps losing sight of it in the sunshine. Hal Robson-Kanu's stinging shot on 42 was top-corner bound, before Fraser tipped the ball over for a corner.
County came out the stronger and quicker side in the second half, and Southend were struggling to keep up with the pace of the game. Penetrating play from the visitors - who were sporting what can only be described as a sewerage-coloured (mix of shit, piss, sick) kit - saw Federici end up making a very decent stop to prevent Anthony Pilkington equalising. Jim McNulty also had saw his effort denied by the on-loan 'keeper.
But their up-tempo play was rewarded on 64. Just seconds after coming on, Leon McSweeney received the ball on the left hand side of the box. With his back to goal, he took one touch to turn and give himself space before firing an unstoppable shot that angled off the underside of the bar and into the right hand top corner. It was one of the best strikes from an opposition player, Roots Hall has seen for some time.
Harding's offence came just four minutes later, with McSweeney the victim. On 71 Steve Tilson received boos from about half the home fans as he replaced the inventive Lee Sawyer for Sankofa. Clearly - with 20 minutes to go - Tilson wanted to sure up the game and settle for the point. It didn't sit well with these fans though who clearly felt the Blues - being the home team - should be taking a chance on nicking the winner. However the decision proved the right one, although Southend did have to endure a torrid final 15 minutes as the visitors sweeped the game from left to right, using the channels to tire the home side.
Carl Baker's curling shot from 20 yards narrowly missed the post, while Federici made a superb point blank save from the highly impressive Pilkington with just three minutes remaining. Alan McCormack who was brought on for Alex Revell (73), looked far from match fitness and was chasing shadows for his seventeen minutes. He did - however - manage to get himself booked four minutes into injury time for talking back to the referee.
Southend will be annoyed they couldn't make it 5 wins on the trot, but will feel lucky not to have lost this game after a crazy five minutes stalled the rise up the table. The Blues slip to 9th.
LONGPIER WITNESSED:
- Bluebells using glittery pom-poms to cover up their poor performance again. The tune they used gave them at least 30 seconds out of the 3 minutes to just stand there, doing nothing. Terrible
- Clappy hands man was there again today, but this time there was no wife...I wonder if she's been sidelined?
- Family of four sitting there not talking, not clapping. Just sitting there slightly open mouthed throughout the 90. Why bother coming?
LONGPIER RATINGS:
Federici (MOM) 9 - Kicking superb, important saves and always aware. Shame we can't keep him.
Francis 4 - Poor game from the defender. Needs to wake up and improve crossing
Clarke 6 - Decent game, good positional awareness, poor distribution yet again.
Barrett 6.5 - Pretty good, never turned by his man, got forward a bit
Harding 5 - Mark would have been so much higher but sending off ruined it
Betsy 6 - Good first half, less so in second
Christophe 7.5 - Very impressed by him. Sometimes gives ball away cheaply but his physical presence gives opposition the jitters.
Sawyer 7.5 - Intelligent passing, not as penetrating as previous games but a class above
Robson-Kanu 6 - OK, one good shot, didn't feature as much in second period
Revell 5.5 - Good touch for Barnard's goal but struggled to make an impact
Barnard 7 - Great goal, so good to feel confident he will score when one on one
SUBS:
Sankofa (71) 6 - Did what he had to do
McCormack (73) 4 - Not match fit, chasing shadows and booked
ATTENDANCE:
7,125
It'll be the most talked about moment of the game, but Harding completely deserved the dismissal after going in, unnecessarily, two-footed on a Stockport player. Whether he won the ball or lost his footing, Harding should know the laws of the game by now and referee Trevor Kettle had no option but to send the Southend defender off.
It was a huge shame for two main reasons. Firstly - up to that point - there were no cautions in a game played in glorious sunshine by two footballing sides. It seemed a shame to spoil an entertaining game. Secondly, Harding was having another excellent game, solid at the back and getting forward to pose a threat down the left whenever he could. Most of the crowd was shocked and immediately berated the referee but if they see it again, most will have a different opinion.
Both sides enjoyed the share of possession in the opening exchanges. Lee Sawyer was looking bright going forward, while Jean-Francois Christophe was using his presence to good effect in the middle. The home side took the lead on 19 when Adam Federici's inch perfect goal kick was met by Alex Revell's head. His delicate touch sent Lee Barnard away, who beat the offside trap, took it around one defender before finishing from around 18 yards past Fraser Forster.
The Shrimpers were restricting their visitors to long distance shots and although Stockport enjoyed some good passing, their final ball was never good enough to get past a strong backline. Well, a strong backline apart from Simon Francis. I worry he's regressing back to the 06-07 season. Too many times the right back looked lazy or his pass didn't find a team-mate. His crossing was appalling today and was caught out on more than one occasion when he should have been tracking his man. Against a high work-rate side like Stockport, Francis is exposed. He needs to buck his ideas up and start performing. However, who's fighting for his place? Possibly Osei Sankofa, but he's likely to be included for the next three games anyway, as the Blues reshuffle the pack to replace Harding.
The Blues ended the first period stronger. Christophe should have doubled the lead on 31 when Harding's free-kick found the midfielder at the far post, but he appeared to get very little on the ball - perhaps losing sight of it in the sunshine. Hal Robson-Kanu's stinging shot on 42 was top-corner bound, before Fraser tipped the ball over for a corner.
County came out the stronger and quicker side in the second half, and Southend were struggling to keep up with the pace of the game. Penetrating play from the visitors - who were sporting what can only be described as a sewerage-coloured (mix of shit, piss, sick) kit - saw Federici end up making a very decent stop to prevent Anthony Pilkington equalising. Jim McNulty also had saw his effort denied by the on-loan 'keeper.
But their up-tempo play was rewarded on 64. Just seconds after coming on, Leon McSweeney received the ball on the left hand side of the box. With his back to goal, he took one touch to turn and give himself space before firing an unstoppable shot that angled off the underside of the bar and into the right hand top corner. It was one of the best strikes from an opposition player, Roots Hall has seen for some time.
Harding's offence came just four minutes later, with McSweeney the victim. On 71 Steve Tilson received boos from about half the home fans as he replaced the inventive Lee Sawyer for Sankofa. Clearly - with 20 minutes to go - Tilson wanted to sure up the game and settle for the point. It didn't sit well with these fans though who clearly felt the Blues - being the home team - should be taking a chance on nicking the winner. However the decision proved the right one, although Southend did have to endure a torrid final 15 minutes as the visitors sweeped the game from left to right, using the channels to tire the home side.
Carl Baker's curling shot from 20 yards narrowly missed the post, while Federici made a superb point blank save from the highly impressive Pilkington with just three minutes remaining. Alan McCormack who was brought on for Alex Revell (73), looked far from match fitness and was chasing shadows for his seventeen minutes. He did - however - manage to get himself booked four minutes into injury time for talking back to the referee.
Southend will be annoyed they couldn't make it 5 wins on the trot, but will feel lucky not to have lost this game after a crazy five minutes stalled the rise up the table. The Blues slip to 9th.
LONGPIER WITNESSED:
- Bluebells using glittery pom-poms to cover up their poor performance again. The tune they used gave them at least 30 seconds out of the 3 minutes to just stand there, doing nothing. Terrible
- Clappy hands man was there again today, but this time there was no wife...I wonder if she's been sidelined?
- Family of four sitting there not talking, not clapping. Just sitting there slightly open mouthed throughout the 90. Why bother coming?
LONGPIER RATINGS:
Federici (MOM) 9 - Kicking superb, important saves and always aware. Shame we can't keep him.
Francis 4 - Poor game from the defender. Needs to wake up and improve crossing
Clarke 6 - Decent game, good positional awareness, poor distribution yet again.
Barrett 6.5 - Pretty good, never turned by his man, got forward a bit
Harding 5 - Mark would have been so much higher but sending off ruined it
Betsy 6 - Good first half, less so in second
Christophe 7.5 - Very impressed by him. Sometimes gives ball away cheaply but his physical presence gives opposition the jitters.
Sawyer 7.5 - Intelligent passing, not as penetrating as previous games but a class above
Robson-Kanu 6 - OK, one good shot, didn't feature as much in second period
Revell 5.5 - Good touch for Barnard's goal but struggled to make an impact
Barnard 7 - Great goal, so good to feel confident he will score when one on one
SUBS:
Sankofa (71) 6 - Did what he had to do
McCormack (73) 4 - Not match fit, chasing shadows and booked
ATTENDANCE:
7,125
Labels: 1-1, dan harding, lee barnard, southend, southend united
posted by JHWESTCLIFF at
6:00 PM
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