Southend United U19s 4-4 Dartford U19s

[Exiled Shrimper]

While you wait for the usual report and reaction from today’s U19s game, check out Jack Stone’s injury-time equaliser for the teenage Shrimpers this afternoon:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1899883485042446623

 

[Evening Echo]

JACK Stone scored a spectacular stoppage-time equaliser to help rescue a point for Southend United U19s in an enthralling 4-4 draw with Dartford at Garon Park.

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[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

JACK Stone scored a spectacular stoppage-time equaliser to help rescue a point for Southend United U19s in an enthralling 4-4 draw with Dartford at Garon Park.

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Late leveller - Jack Stone celebrates his equaliser for Southend United (Image: ROB CRAVEN)


By Chris Phillips. Chief sports reporter.

JACK Stone scored a spectacular stoppage-time equaliser to help rescue a point for Southend United U19s in an enthralling 4-4 draw with Dartford at Garon Park.

Southend trailed by two goals on three separate occasions, but Obi Okafor’s brace and a stunning strike from Joshua Jackson kept the teenage Shrimpers in touch until Stone’s dramatic injury-time intervention.

“Sometimes it’s about learning not to lose,” said youth team coach Danny Heath afterwards.

“When you’ve been the better team in the game, and you find yourselves 4-3 down going into the last minute and you shouldn’t really be in that position, it’s about finding a way not to lose the game, and the boys did that.”

“I thought Obi’s finish at Aldershot would be goal of the season, but that one from Stoney today is up there with that one.

"It was a different type of goal to those he normally scores.

"It was a great finish, and he deserves that because he does a lot of work on his finishing, and you could see the feeling he gets from scoring goals.”

Heath made one change to the side that defeated Slough Town in their previous National League U19 Alliance Academy South Division fixture as Jackson replaced the injured Mitchell Ward in the starting line-up.

The impressive Ward missed out on a place in the matchday squad for the first time this season as a consequence.

Blues looked to make a quick start, and they crafted the first opening in just the second minute as Alfie Humphrey’s cross was nodded out to Nathan Woodley on the edge of the penalty area, but the midfielder sent a volley wide of the right-hand post.

That enabled Dartford to take the lead in the fifth minute. Having won a left-wing corner, the delivery was directed to the near post, where an attacker managed to get to the ball first and divert it into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.

Stone had the ball in the back of the net from a Humphrey through-ball in the eighth minute, but the effort was ruled out for offside, and five minutes later a foul on Woodley on the edge of the penalty area led to a testing free-kick from Olu Shobowale that was gathered by the visiting goalkeeper at the second attempt.

With Southend struggling to get into their rhythm, the Darts doubled their lead on 16 minutes.

A throw-in from the right-hand side was set back and delivered into the penalty area, where it was flicked into the path of an attacker, who fired beyond Josh Barrett from around 12 yards out.

Stone nodded George Pulham’s free-kick wide midway through the first half, but it was not until the 29th minute that Blues established a foothold in the game by halving their deficit.

Patient build-up culminated in Shobowale’s pass into Stone’s feet, and he moved the ball on quickly for Okafor, whose strike was deflected over the goalkeeper and into the net.

Dartford could have responded quickly, but a right-footed attempt was scooped over and instead it appeared as though Blues would net next. Stone glanced another Pulham set-piece narrowly wide before he was denied by the visiting custodian, who blocked a 42nd-minute strike after he had been put clear by Okafor.

In the 43rd minute, a long ball was headed by Stone into the path of Okafor, and his fierce strike was also repelled by the goalkeeper, before a defender stole possession back.

Seconds later Humphrey sent the ball in from the right flank and Stone’s powerful header bounced back off the frame of the goal.

However, against the run of play, Dartford restored their two-goal cushion in the last of the regulation 45 minutes.

A free-kick on the halfway line should not have represented any danger for the hosts, but an attacker found space on the left-hand side of the penalty area and arrowed his finish into the opposite corner.

Despite that setback, the Shrimpers went in at half-time only a goal adrift thanks to a fine finish in the second minute of stoppage time.

Goalkeeper Barrett delivered a deep free-kick to the far post, where Rio Thomas helped the ball back across for Stone. He prodded it to Jackson, who sent a sweet strike from 18 yards out into the top left-hand corner.

Early in the second half, it seemed as though Southend would use that momentum to get back on level terms, and within two minutes of the restart Okafor had curled against the crossbar following excellent work from Woodley on the left-hand side.

On 50 minutes, Okafor skipped a challenge just inside Dartford territory to bear down on goal, but his left-footed finish was smothered by the goalkeeper, and instead the away team made it 4-2 just before the hour mark when they counter-attacked quickly following a Blues free-kick and a clinical finish nestled in the bottom left-hand corner.

Southend’s reaction was swift as they hit back in the 61st minute. A quickly-taken short corner from Pulham to Shobowale led to a pinpoint delivery from the left touchline that was met by Okafor, who steered a superb header into the roof of the net for his fourth goal in the last four games.

Woodley dragged an effort narrowly wide from the edge of the penalty area shortly afterwards, but the chances began to dry up as the game approached the final 10 minutes and a visiting attacker curled narrowly wide before Woodley managed to get another strike away, with the Dartford custodian twisting his body to claw the snapshot to safety.

The game became more stretched, and it appeared the hosts would be frustrated, but Southend were handed a final opportunity when Zevieyan Makangu was brought down in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Jackson’s free-kick was headed upwards, Shobowale hooked it back into the danger area and Stone connected with an overhead bicycle kick that looped over the goalkeeper and into the right-hand corner.

The remarkable leveller was the 30th youth team goal of Stone’s career, coming in his 42nd appearance, but there will be few in his collection to rival this for its impact and audacity as it extended his team’s unbeaten run to five matches.

It is the second time Blues have reached that mark this season, and Heath hailed the spirit within the squad: “They could have easily lost the game and lost their unbeaten run but, by having that character and that fight to the end and not giving up, they’ve kept it going, and that’s a good feeling. Five games unbeaten at any level shows how well the boys are performing,” he declared.

Southend United U19s: Joshua Barrett, Rio Thomas (Teddy Woolland, 86), George Pulham, Julius Nwike, Olu Shobowale, Alfie Humphrey, Nathan Woodley, Jack Stone, Zevieyan Makangu, Obi Okafor, Joshua Jackson.

Unused substitutes: Thato Molefi, Jared Nana Asare, Joe Poxon.