Southend United 2 Bromley 0

Vanarama National League, Tuesday 8th January

I was over at a rocking Roots Hall on Tuesday evening as over 8,000 saw Southend United extend their unbeaten run to eight after early second half goals from Matthew Dennis & Shaun Hobson saw them to victory over high flying Bromley. 

The Blues are slowly turning round what was a desperate season up until Boxing Day, going into the corresponding fixture against their opponents here they were fighting to try and get out of the relegation spots, and since that 1-1 draw the Blues have been on a seven match unbeaten run, five of them wins, which has seen them starting to look up rather than down.

They were up against a Bromley side though who had won four games in a row having only conceded one goal in that time so this game would really see how far the Blues had come and really test out that unbeaten record, and with a bumper crowd inside Roots Hall they were certainly going to be backed by a noisy support.

A tight first period saw the best chance fall to the visitors in the 19th minute, and it was almost a gift from the hosts, as a poor back pass from Nathan Ralph saw George Alexander pounce onto the lose ball, but hosts keeper Steve Arnold came and made a superb stop to keep the score line level, but the Blues were to take control with two quick fire goals at the start of the second period.

Two minutes after the break Sam Dalby cut inside before firing a wonderful left footed effort towards the top corner was superbly tipped onto the post by visiting keeper Mark Cousins, however, Dennis was the quickest to react to roll the rebound home and send the 8,000 plus crowd wild with delight, and then three minutes later they were to be on their feet celebrating again.

This was because a Tom Clifford delivery from the left found Hobson who stole in to power a header beyond Cousins and double the Shrimpers advantage, and Bromley now had a mountain to climb to keep their winning streak going, and break into the top three in the division as well.

The closest Bromley came to finding a goal arrived fifteen minutes from the end when Arnold stuck out a leg to deny Luke Coulson after he had broke in down the right hand side, and it meant the Blues would record a sixth win in eight games and remain unbeaten since Boxing Day, meaning they remain 13th but are still closer to the play off places that the relegation zone still.

The hosts are eleven points from seventh spot now and will believe they can make a late charge for the play offs, an impossible thought only six weeks ago, and they are now eighteen points clear of the drop zone, it's been some six weeks for Maher and Co who are seemingly finally stamping their mark on this club and side now, the desire and passion shown by the Blues is typical of what Maher was like as a player, so it is definitely shining through now.

For Bromley this was a disappointing loss, a point would have taken them above FC Halifax Town into third spot, and a win would have taken them just two points off leaders Stockport County, however, their four match winning streak comes to an end here but they are still in fourth and still in a good position going forward, despite this setback on the Essex Coast.

Finally I must say the Blues support was amazing, they did not stop singing all game and created a superb atmosphere inside the stadium, there is a real feel good factor there right now and it is so good to see as a Southend resident that they are looking to be on the way up once again, a very enjoyable evening indeed.

Full time Southend United 2 Bromley 0