Southend United came out on top in the Essex Derby on Saturday afternoon with Franck Moussa's goal seperating the two sides.

It was a case of the Derby Day Blues of the U's as Franck Moussa's first half goal gave the Battle of Essex to Southend United yesterday afternoon. The U's created three good chances from which to salvage something from the game of which the worst, from Pat Baldwin, will have United's central defender having sleepless nights.

Lambert made two changes to the side that had lost to Walsall last weekend with Paul Reid suspended, and Jamie Guy not included in the sixteen. Matt Heath partnered Baldwin at the back with Scott Vernon alongside Clive Platt. Steven Gillespie returned from injury to gain a place on the bench.

Southend manager Paul Tilson had Adam Barrett playing in an unusual left back role with Dorian Dervite and Peter Clarke at the heart of the defence. Alan McCormack was in central midfield with Laurent and Robinson up front.

Southend started brightly as they attacked the near 2,000 travelling supporters in the North Stand. Clarke's raking free kick was met by Barrett's looping header which went over Walker and in to the net but the Assistant on the Main Stand quickly cancelled out the celebrations with his flag raised for offside against the former U's target.

United's first effort saw Hammond fire wide from the edge of the box before a bizarre incident stopped play. As a Southend United player went to take a throw on, a spare ball (the one which had been kicked out of play) was returned to him with perhaps a little more power than was necessary. It was accurate though as it knocked the other ball out of the players hand and caused the game to be stopped whilst the referee requested more stewards in that area of the ground. It was a harmless enough incident so why Peter Clarke felt that he needed to run 40 yards to point out the thrower for him to be ejected was nothing more than petty.

However, he had reason to celebrate after 14 minutes as the visitors took the lead through Franck Moussa's first goal for the club. A loose ball was hammered clear by Dervite down which I suspect he was actually trying to put in to touch however, Theo Robinson raced on to the ball and away from Matt Heath and played an ideal ball across the box which Moussa only had to put on target. It might have been a fortunate start to the move, but Southend's pace had caught out the U's and given them the lead.

Midway through the first half United were, in my opinion, fortunate to not find themselves down to ten men. An incident between McCormack and Maybury as the ball went out on the halfway line looked to me at least, to be ended by Maybury's left hook to McCormack. If I'd have been in charge, he would have seen a red card but instead, Mr Wright decided a yellow card to both players was adequate.

Then came the first of United's excellent chances which they preceded to waste. Tierney's floated ball to the back post saw Platt hold off the challenge of two defenders to head the ball towards an unmarked Kem Izzet eight yards out. The U's longest serving player headed the ball down but unfortunately to close to Mildenhall who was able to make the save.

Vernon almost worked his way in to the box shortly afterwards and as Clarke cleared the ball hit his own man and rebounded out for a corner. From the set piece, Perkins delivery looked a little low but Hammond stooped to flick the ball to the far post where Pat Baldwin, whose only previous U's goal came in the U's 3-0 win in the last ever Layer Road meeting between the two clubs, timed his run to perfection. Sadly, with the goal at his mercy, his touch wasn't quite so perfect and from a yard out in front of goal, somehow blazed the ball over the top. It’s the kind of thing that commentators say it would have been harder to miss and I just think Pat is going to have nightmares of this for a while to come.

Finally, Mildenhall had to make a fantastic save from Yeates. The Irishman made room for himself ten yards out with two Southend defenders in front of him, but they couldn't prevent the shot that saw Mildenhall dive to his left to parry behind for a corner. The Irish then blazed a lay-off from Platt over the bar as United continued their hunt for an equaliser.

At the other end, chances were few and far between though the Seasider's always offered a threat from set-pieces (more than the U's do at least!). Franck Moussa got up highest to head over McCormack's free kick over the bar late in the half.

The U's were unfortunate to go in to the break a goal down after creating at least three good opportunities in the first period but had fallen to the sucker punch after 14 minutes.

Within a minute of the second half United had another chance, and again Platt was involved as his knockdown found Izzet in space on the edge of the box. Unfortunately, the U's midfielder is not first choice for a position such as this and again, he failed to make the most of the opportunity.

Indeed, the U's second half showing wasn't as good as their first half efforts with chances few and far between. Southend were content to let the U's try and break them down though Peter Clarke did head a corner wide in a rare attacking moment for them.
Paul Lambert made his first chance on 66 minutes with Steven Gillespie replacing Scott Vernon up front. To me it seemed the perfect substitution. Right time, right player and right idea with Gilly's pace always likely to cause the Southend back four trouble. In hindsight however, the substitution (and subsequent subs as well) seemed to affect the U's more than it did the visitors and in truth, we never really looked like creating a real chance in the remaining twenty-five minutes.

That's not to say there weren't half chances as there were. On another day, Gillespie's free header might have worried the keeper rather than going wide while Yeates' run down the left might have seen more reward than it did with Platt penalised for offside despite getting back onside before making a vital challenge.

Simon Hackney replaced Matt Heath with 11 minutes to go - an odd substitution as surely the ex-Leeds man height might be crucial in these last few minutes, while Lewis Gobern replaced the energetic David Perkins with four minutes left.

In truth though, it was Southend who looked the more likely to grab the last goal of the game. McCormack escaped down the U's left hand but fortunately his cross was just behind Laurent who therefore couldn't control his header. Despite six minute of injury time, United couldn't find an equaliser so it is Southend who earn the bragging rights this season. The U's may have been the better side over the two fixtures, but at the end of the day, its results that count and they have picked up 4 points from the two encounters.

The upside of the day is that the two will renew acquaintances against next season. Two points separates the sides in mid-table and frankly, they are both too good to go down, but not good enough to threaten the top six (and even if they did, they would be unlikely to come out on top). That alone makes this result a blessing in disguise and the U's and Paul Lambert can concentrate on getting his team ready for a realistic challenge at promotion next season.

Shot of the Match: The U's are always shot-shy from the edge of the box and today was no exception with Yeates and Hammond the only two who tried their luck from outside of the penalty area. Neither was anything to write home about.
Save of the Match: Steve Mildenhall did really well to deny Yeates from inside the penalty area with a full length dive to push the ball around the box whilst the U's were on top.
Moan of the Match: Did Peter Clarke really need to get involved with the U's fans after the first half throw-on incident? It was harmless enough and indeed, the lad was only returning the ball back to the player...a quick word in his ear from the stewards was all that was needed.
Man of the Match: A couple of players really spring to mind. I thought Clive Platt won some terrific headers in dangerous areas - indeed, probably more today than he has done in the last five or six homes games - and was unlucky that none resulted in a goal. Kem Izzet was constant menace to the Southend midfield and popped up in some good positions as well (it is rare for a U's midfielder to get ahead of the ball) but my MOTM goes to his midfield partner DEAN HAMMOND. I thought he was immense for the U's today, rarely gave the ball away when he had it, and put it some tough challenges to win the ball back and set the U's up for another attack. An excellent all round performance.

Colchester: Walker, Maybury, Heath (Hackney 79), Baldwin, Tierney, Perkins (Gobern 86), Hammond, Izzet, Yeates, Vernon (Gillespie 66), Platt.
Subs Not Used: Cousins, Coyne.
Booked: Maybury, Hammond.

Southend: Mildenhall, Sankofa, Dervite, Clarke, Barrett, Grant (Francis 84), McCormack, Christophe, Moussa, Laurent (Barnard 71), Robinson (Betsy 86).
Subs Not Used: Joyce, Scannell.
Booked: McCormack, Laurent, Barnard, Grant.

Goals: Moussa 14.

Att: 8,651

Ref: Kevin Wright (Cambridgeshire).

Photo: Action Images

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