Home win - for Southend United's under 18 side
(Image: ROB CRAVEN)
Southend United FC
Football
Sport.
SOUTHEND United's under 18 side kept pace with their rivals at the top of the National League U19 Alliance Division A table after battling past King’s Lynn Town 5-2, at Garon Park.
Tom Bailey’s side remain two points behind league leaders Lowestoft Town with a game in hand after fighting back from conceding the first goal as Helkias Acheampong put the visitors in front on the half-hour.
Sisanda Maguranyanga’s 19th goal of the season and Nikolay Zlatev’s injury-time finish meant it was 2-1 to Blues by half-time.
However, Southend’s levels dropped again after the break and Paolo Mosig equalised midway through the second period before Zlatev’s second, and further goals from substitutes Harrison Lamb and Finley Ledger, made sure of the three points.
But Bailey was left frustrated by an inconsistent display.
"It was up and down,” he said.
“In possession we were really, really good, so there’s something we can build on next week, but out of possession it wasn’t good enough and we have to be so much better.”
“Transitions have also been an issue for us for quite a while now.
"When we lose the ball we’re not getting set up or reacting quickly enough to win the ball back.
"There are lots of good bits of play, but in the two 15-minute periods of play leading up to their goals we switched right off and, when you think about how quickly we changed it around both times, it tells you we weren’t proactive.”
Blues were without regular goalkeeper Luca Sorrentino, meaning Callum Topsfield was called in to deputise for the second match in succession, while Yobor Sorae returned to the team in place of Prince Chinedum, with Dylan Pattison moving back into a defensive role and Sorae starting in midfield.
The teenage Shrimpers had conceded two early goals in each of their previous two fixtures, but this time they started on the front foot, and they could have taken the lead as early as the fifth minute when Muhammad Limbada saw an effort deflected over after receiving the ball from Maguranyanga.
Three minutes later Brandon Dadson brought the ball under control 25 yards from goal and forced King’s Lynn goalkeeper Terry Silva into a full-length save to his right-hand side to prevent him from scoring the opening goal.
From the resultant Oscar Miller corner, Limbada dragged his shot wide of the left-hand post from the edge of the penalty area.
Southend continued to push forwards, and Silva did well to turn away Sorae’s attempt from the ‘D’ after good build-up play from skipper Ronnie Durussel and Zlatev.
A measure of the pressure being exerted on the visitors came in the 16th minute when defender Sam Keenoy was cautioned for unceremoniously upending Maguranyanga as he tried to break clear.
However, the hosts couldn’t sustain their impressive start and, on 21 minutes, Mosig scooped over from 10 yards out as King’s Lynn threatened for the first time.
Five minutes later, Topsfield had to be alert to race off his goal-line and clear at Mosig’s feet as he chased down a through-ball.
On 31 minutes, Blues fell behind.
A passive period of play culminated in midfielder Ibrahim Lima under-hitting a back-pass towards Topsfield and Acheampong seized upon the opportunity to round the custodian and tap into an empty net.
Southend were stunned into a reaction and, although Acheampong fired narrowly wide on 35 minutes, that was sandwiched by Zlatev pushing the ball beyond Silva but losing control, allowing the King’s Lynn defence to recover, and Maguranyanga smashing over after cutting back onto his right foot.
Dadson also angled a finish narrowly wide before the Shrimpers restored parity five minutes before half-time through Maguranyanga.
The former Rangers youngster pressed in unison with Zlatev on the halfway line and won the ball as a result before racing clear and slotting past Silva.
Another Dadson effort, this time curling goalwards from 20 yards out, was gathered by the visiting goalkeeper, but he was unable to prevent Southend from edging ahead four minutes into stoppage time.
Miller’s dominant header in midfield released Zlatev, who held off a defender before guiding his finish into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.
Dadson also fired over from an acute angle before the break, but Blues failed to build on the momentum they had gained before the interval.
Sorae arrowed a shot into Silva’s gloves on 50 minutes and Maguranyanga saw a thumping effort deflected over on the hour, leaving the hosts susceptible to a fightback.
On 65 minutes, the Linnets levelled as Southend were punished for another sloppy moment at the back.
David Unpong delivered a right-wing cross to the near post, and Mosig swept the ball into the top right-hand corner of the net from around eight yards out to make it 2-2.
This time, the Shrimpers wasted little time moving into the ascendancy as they netted again four minutes later.
Silva had just kicked out Limbada’s cut-back when the midfielder threaded a reverse pass through to Dadson, who picked out Zlatev’s run for the front man to steer his 15th goal of the campaign into the roof of the net.
Sorae found the side-netting with a rasping strike on 73 minutes, but he played a key role in providing Southend a cushion with the fourth goal four minutes later.
His left-wing run ended with a square pass for Lamb to mark his debut by diverting the ball into the bottom right-hand corner from eight yards out.
Three minutes later the result was put beyond any doubt as another replacement, Ledger, got onto the scoresheet after receiving the ball on the right-hand apex of the penalty area.
He fought his way past a defender before rolling home via the inside of the left-hand post.
“Eventually we got the job done,” Bailey declared.
“I know we’re not going to be great for 90 minutes in a game, but we have to be better, more compact, and do the basics better in those difficult periods, otherwise we’ll continue to concede goals too easily.”
“We’ve had a difficult three weeks; losing out in the quarter-finals of the League Cup on penalties was tough to take, and to lose in such a manner as we did at Chelmsford City was disappointing, but this is hopefully the start of a six-game period where we can get back to where we should be, and this result can be a building block.”
Southend United U18s: Callum Topsfield, Ronnie Durussel, Oscar Miller (Harrison Lamb 72), Ibrahim Lima (Jude Morgan 80), Dylan Pattison (Prince Chinedum 72), James Datey, Yobor Sorae, Muhammad Limbada, Nikolay Zlatev, Brandon Dadson, Sisanda Maguranyanga (Finley Ledger 60).
