Southend United V Bury - Review!

October 27, 2014 by Alec Hitchman

Southend United 1-1 Bury FC - Same Old Story For Blues

Winless October Finally Comes To An End For Southend United. It was definitely a case of deja-vu for everyone associated with Southend United as Blues took the lead in the first half, only for their opponents to equalise in the second half to claim a point.

First Half

The game started rather slowly, with one of Blues’ early chances falling to Lee Barnard who fired over the bar from a David Worrall cross. Early chances continued to come and go for both sides, as the game gradually got more fast paced and tempers were slowly rising in both team camps. Inconsistent refereeing didn’t help at all, as Darren Drysdale, the referee, didn’t give the game many chances to flow.
Southend had a free kick on the edge of the Bury box, but Michael Timlin was unlucky, as his strike from the free kick hit the side netting, almost catching out Rob Lainton in the Bury goal. Not long after, Daniel Bentley was the hero for Southend as Bury striker Courtney Duffus found himself one on one with the Southend ‘keeper, who got down well to steal the ball from the striker’s feet.
Southend eventually made their early pressure pay, and took the lead in the 37th minute. Barry Corr’s touch in the Bury box set the chance up for himself, and he took it with great aplomb, smashing the ball past Lainton and putting Blues 1-0 up.
Blues continued to push and saw two more chances go begging, first, a header from Barry Corr went wide of the goal, before David Worrall, playing against one of his old teams, fired an effort from the edge of the box over the bar.

Second Half

After half time, it was clear that whatever Bury manager David Flitcroft said had worked. His side were on the attack within the first few minutes of the second half, but Blues once again had Bentley to thank, as Duffus’ effort was gracefully gathered.
Bury continued to push, and could have equalised if Ryan Lowe’s cross-come-shot had evaded Daniel Bentley and not the post. Instead, the cross-shot drifted wide and Blues still had the lead.
Soon after, Bury got the goal they will say they deserved from the run of play, with half-time substitute Craig Jones heading past Bentley to bring back the memories to Blues fans of Exeter’s second half equaliser in Blues’ previous home game.
Tempers were increasing as the second half progressed, especially after Bury had scored, with Blues substitute Jack Payne involved in a scrap with Bury defender Pablo Mills. Mills was attacking with the ball and was caught up by Payne, who fairly challenged him, although the referee didn’t think so, and Bury had a free kick. Mills, however, clearly unhappy with Payne’s tackle got straight up and yelled something at Payne. Both players were booked.
In the dying minutes of the game, Bury substitute Danny Rose seemed to misunderstand the concept of time-wasting. His attempted effort to waste time was seen by all at Roots Hall. He had gone down, after apparently being challenged by a Blues defender, but got back up again when he realised Bury had the ball. When they (Bury) wasted the chance, Rose went down again. He should have been booked, but wasn’t. What a surprise, given the inconsistency of the refereeing.
Just to top it all off, Blues were denied a clear penalty in the 89th minute, when David Worrall was dragged down by Pablo Mills, just before he was about to shoot.

So, October was a disappointing month for Blues. Let’s hope November is much different. For the record, Blues haven’t lost a League game in November since 2011.

Other Results:

AFC Wimbledon 2-2 Tranmere Rovers
Cambridge United 2-1 Hartlepool United
Carlisle United 2-1 Oxford United
Luton Town 1-0 Northampton Town
Morecambe FC 0-2 Exeter
Newport County 1-1 Accrington Stanley
Plymouth Argyle 3-0 Cheltenham Town
Shrewsbury Town 2-1 Portsmouth FC
Stevenage FC 1-0 Burton Albion
Wycombe Wanderers 1-1 Dagenham & Redbridge
York City 1-1 Mansfield Town

ALL GAMES WERE PLAYED ON 25/10/2014 APART FROM MORECAMBE FC V EXETER CITY