Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 3-1 Halifax Town

[Rooster79]

Sittingbourne having been airbrushed from the memory…

I agree, I think we should really dwell on the freak loss via a freak goal in the cup.

 

[Leeboy]

just noticed on the highlights that after Kendall scored, Bonne proper wound up the big black defender (whom he had wiped out earlier) and he - the defender- got a yellow card

Loving your work Bonne

 

[damien]

The winning formula against Halifax isn’t necessarily the winning formula against Rochdale though.

My humble opinion is that Kev has been guilty of giving too much respect and changing what we do well based on the opposition.

This is the fifth division, we should be imposing our qualities on the opposition rather than ran trying to negate the non quality of a lot of the opposition we face.

 

[WestyReturns]

Much better last night. No coincidence that we were far far far better going forward with 3 actual forwards from the start and Ralph back in his best position.

Really good to see Hopper and Kendall get off the mark. Hayes was excellent in goal and made a couple of great saves.

LCP looked lively when he comes on and wanted to get forward at every opportunity. Let's hope that's encouraged to continue. My worry is Kev will want to swap out a striker for him to go back to his preferred tactic.

 

[in the know]

Amazing how when the team suddenly refound some confidence it looks a totally different side.
3 up front pressing and a centre back that attacks balls with no prisoners taken in both boxes makes us dangerous at set pieces.
Was worried initially that Kendal just isn't strong enough and lacked ability to hold it up against bigger players, but his work rate, speed and ability to rush players makes him such an asset and the goal will hugely boost his confidence.
I like hopper. Puts himself about and gives bigger defenders some physical aggregation and his positional experience is invaluable. Really pleased he got his goal. I loved it he then walked so slowly back to the center circle making sure the ref talked to him walking at a slow pace to soak up time. We've lacked all that stuff.
I like both golding and goodliffe for different skill reasons and it was cheeky of gus to pinch that goal but it was goodliffes positioning and winning the header that caused the goal.
Hayes made 3 great saves I thought. Thought his kicking was ok, not great, not bad. But he's commanding and brave and a decent height and deals with crosses. Clearly thrives on the support.
How any players manage to put in a decent corner from the north east corner flag is beyond me. 1 stride downhill then a two foot drop.I
Quite excited by the new lad Leon. Only glimpses of what he's apparently got n his locket. Yet to properly see his change of gears, but looks to have husin like control and seems very agile and fluid in his running style.
I did worry when we effectively dropped back to two up top and quickly conceded. They'd made changes so I assume it was to cope with that but we seemed to have them on the ropes up to that point. I was thinking why not just keep at them and go for more goals. Fortunately Kendal and bonne combined really well and Kendall took his chance so well.
I believe we will see 3 up top saturday . Just can't see a reason not to.
one thing that did really aggravate last night was that we had no keeper for shooting practice in the warm up. 3 main coaches and none appear to have thought to sort it. Especially as finishing hasn't been exactly great to date. Walkers shot straight at the keeper reminded me of this in the first half. Surely the young keeper could have been brought in just for pre match practise.
However, alls well that ends well and very entertaining evening.
(Tried the east stand cheeseburger for the first time. £7 purchase I won't be doing again. Not worth half that amount).

 

[RootsHallRoar]

This is Nick's second interview, and talks more about the upcoming Halifax game. He was right about the goals will come.

Top bloke! Love this interview.

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

Top bloke! Love this interview.

Love that confidence and enthusiasm, that's the kind of character we need. No hesitation there talking about aiming for the play offs - that's what we all want to hear. Plus I like that he said 'we can't be worrying about how other teams play' (or suchlike) .. no we can't .. especially at home. Get on the front foot, take it to these teams and make us impossible to live with ....

 

[Maroon Blue]

What do you get on a Tuesday night under the lights at Roots Hall? Yep a standard 2 goal victory, against all expectations the inconsistency continues. Back to 3 recognised strikers up top we started very slowly. But as soon as we found our rhythm the ball stuck up top and we pinned them in. I thought Halifax were very slick and passed us off the park the first twenty minutes, their crosses were dangerous whereas we plodded and floated innocuous balls which were easy to defend. It was nice and refreshing to hear their manager compliments of us and I thought over critical of Halifax, saying it was men vs boys. Unlike the normal we bossed it dross you hear from managers like McNulty. Even KM resorting to statistics about entries into the box falls into that trap sometimes. Millington says it honestly as he sees it, so we must have been good to inflict only their third away defeat. Front 3 were impressive, good for Hopper & Kendall to get off the mark. 3rd goal came at a grest time just as Halifax were building for a final push. Great to be on the winning side on set pieces, both attack and defence. Change of shirts at half time really brightened us up in more ways than one. Much better watch and players and fans could pick us out. I recall Nick Hayes kicking straight to a Halifax player in the first half and we all said he struggled to pick us out when making a snap decision.

Hayes 8
Taylor 8
Goodliffe 8
Ralph 7.5
GSM 8
Morton 8
Husin 7.5
Bridge 7
Walker 7
Hopper 8
Kendall 8.5 MOTM

Bonne 7
LCP 7
Coker 6
Golding 6

Charley Kendall the MOTM, what a thorn in their side, did not stop harassing them all night. Very solid and infectious performance all round from the team from 20 minutes on, once we got on top our confidence increased. All the players and subs really started to show for the ball, all wanting to get in on the increased verve and mood. Long may it continue. UTB

 

[wildheart]

Well last night was a breath of fresh air, even if the first half was turgid again. Kendall worked his socks off and thoroughly deserved his goal. Husin must have had something in his half time drink because he was a different player second half? The change of the shirts... not only help us identify the players it seemed to lighten our team as to passing? So many good performances, best showing since Charlton. More of the same for Rochdale please!

 

[BEERMONSTER]

The opposition assessment also towards the end makes reference to KM and staff

 

[davewebbsbrain]

just noticed on the highlights that after Kendall scored, Bonne proper wound up the big black defender (whom he had wiped out earlier) and he - the defender- got a yellow card

Loving your work Bonne

Despite so many people's negative views on Bonne from day one, he is one of my fave players in this squad. He knows exactly what he's doing when he's on the pitch. He creates space for others, you can hear him coaching others, he took that defender out early doors, then got him booked.
He took the ball to the corner to waste time, he knows all the tricks and uses them.
He comes across very well in interviews and I am very happy he is at the club

 

[cerbera45]

Didn't expect that result, but that's just the boost i need, as start my Chemo tomorrow.
UTB

The very best of luck with that

 

[mattytheshrimper]

Great win and a much needed reaction after some poor performances. Unfortunately I have bad news for everyone, we will lose on Saturday. I have family coming down for their one game a season and a few things are always guaranteed when they do. It's always cold, its always against a northern team, we always play shocking and we always lose, usually it's 3-1.

 

[Guybrush13]

Think we should keep the light blue at home especially evening games

I know our traditional colour is dark blue, however I much prefer the light blue & (pauses for pelters) I'd prefer it as our home colour.

 

[shrimperjon]

Hayes had no chance with their goal. The ball took a wicked deflection off Husin's foot. Hayes had the shot well covered before that deflection.

thanks, i wasnt having a dig, just had no idea what happened from where we were sat. You could tell from his reaction something odd had happened

 

[Leeboy]

thanks, i wasnt having a dig, just had no idea what happened from where we were sat. You could tell from his reaction something odd had happened

yeah Noor back-heeled it thru Hayes legs - at the other end it would have been show boat goal of the season

 

[Leeboy]

The opposition assessment also towards the end makes reference to KM and staff

he obviously hasn’t seen us much this season- ‘they’re a threat from set pieces in and around the box’

 

[Whispering Bob]

From a Halifax rag;

Chris Millington admitted his side was beaten by the better team and got what they desrved in their 3-1 loss at Southend United.
Luca Thomas came off the bench to get one back for Town after they conceded twice in four second-half minutes, both from corners, but the hosts added a third to seal their win.
"Beaten by the better team," was Millington's assessment, "looked like men v boys at times and they were the men and we were the boys.
"We looked young, we looked inexperienced and we looked leggy, I thought we looked a bit tired."
When asked if Millington saw the performance coming, he said: "No, I can't say I did. I knew it'd be a tough game.
"Southend are a phenomenally well managed team, they are men, they are experienced, good National League footballers.
"I've said previously, if you're not at your game they expose you and we weren't at it, too many were really poor.
"Really disappointed. We got what we deserved."
Gus Scott-Morriss and Tom Hopper scored twice within four minutes after the interval to establish a commanding lead for Southend, both from set pieces.
Gus Scott-Morriss and Tom Hopper scored twice within four minutes after the interval to establish a commanding lead for Southend, both from set pieces.
Halifax rallied towards the end, but Millington says that didn't disguise their failings.
"It's not good enough, we were beaten by the better team," he said.
"I don't mind losing football matches, it's going to happen, teams are going to beat us at times.
"But we should put up more of a fight. We were poor."

 

[Whispering Bob]

We’ve probably been fortunate with our mid-week away fixtures over recent seasons; it’s difficult to remember too many longer distance games that have been rescheduled from a weekend due to the weather or cup competitions. With freezing temperatures across the country in January, our well planned and relaxing Saturday visit to Southend was suddenly switched to a late-night expedition down the motorways and A roads of the UK. What time we’d get back would be anyone’s guess.

Shortly after lunchtime we were off on our 229-mile odyssey with everyone bar the Warley Shayman looking to witness first hand a Town victory at Roots Hall. We all know Southend has never been a particularly good hunting ground for the Shaymen over the years, but none of us wanted to be the ones sat at home watching Coronation Street if our great recent away form continued.

With traffic reasonable, we rolled into Southend just as dusk was falling; beyond the remnants of the longest pier in the world, you could still just make out the helter-skelters and amusement parks of the Isle of Sheppey across the Thames estuary in the gathering gloom. With a two-for-one offer available, we were unsurprisingly tempted into one of our favourite restaurant chains. All was going well until the bill arrived at double the asking price. Luckily, we had the charismatic Denzil to renegotiate the price for us. It’s unclear what he said to the staff, but he did seem to suggest that he may have used his wallet full of Town stickers, if the price wasn’t right.

With an advance admission price of £22 the 42 travelling Shaymen were given the first block of seating in an otherwise empty stand behind the goal. The weather was calm, a slight haze from the floodlights filled the air. The old wooden main stand was reasonably populated with most of the home support gathered down the other side of the pitch in the seats. The double-decker stand and the far end also had home fans but was far from capacity.

Town started the game well attacking the far end and they forced some early corners but didn’t create too much trouble for the keeper. The home side then grew into the half, holding much of the possession and threatened more as half time approached.

Two quick fire goals, both from corners gave the Shaymen an uphill struggle soon after the restart. It wasn’t unexpected given our record down there. We pulled one back with not long remaining and it gave us something to cheer about. Then, for a moment, we almost forced an equaliser as a shot fizzed wide. Southend made it three before somehow stopping us scoring again in injury time. We hit the post, the keeper made a couple of blocks, it would have been too late, but we would have taken it all the same.

After the final whistle blew, the players and staff thanked the fans for travelling and we slipped away into the night. With diversions though some overnight closures and roadworks we arrived back shortly before 3.00am. It wasn’t the result we had hoped for but we’re still in the top six with a tremendous away record. It doesn’t matter how many points you gather on the road, the latest result always seems to be the most important.

Next up and it’s a local derby with a visit to York City. No doubt we’ll travel there with a big away following making lots of noise. C’mon Shaymen

Miles on the road: 5448. Goals on the road: 24. Points on the road: 29.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

My humble opinion is that Kev has been guilty of giving too much respect and changing what we do well based on the opposition.

This is the fifth division, we should be imposing our qualities on the opposition rather than ran trying to negate the non quality of a lot of the opposition we face.

But we are also fifth tier and have fifth tier quality players. It’s not about respecting the opposition it’s about not being two against three and being outnumbered in central midfield.

The opposition assessment also towards the end makes reference to KM and staff

And also the fanbase in a less flattering light “strange murmurings”.