Southend United picked up all three points courtesy of a first-half strike from Lee Barnard against Hereford United this afternoon. 6393 were present at Roots Hall as United had the majority of the possession but again failed to take advantage of this with a lack of support up front.
Graham Turner had fresh injury worries but named the same team that picked up a point against Swindon Town. Andy Williams started on left-wing, despite a slight knock. New signing Nick Chadwick failed to make the team with a lack of match fitness. Steve Tilson named an attacking team, with forward trio of James Walker, Barnard and former Crystal Palace man Dougie Freedman spearheading their forward line.
The home team made a fine start to the game with Walker causing Richard Jackson problems with his pace. He cut in from the left-hand side but couldn't curl his shot into the far corner. A blind pass from Ben Smith let in Freedman, but the experienced striker couldn't beat Darren Randolph from close-range, with the 'keeper palming his shot out for a corner. Dean Beckwith blocked a powerful Barnard effort, before the former Spurs man glided a Simon Francis cross past the far post. After fending off the early pressure, Steve Guinan's hold up allowed O'Leary to collect but he shot wide from 20 yards, whilst Bradley Hudson-Odoi's step-overs fooled Ben Harding, and he flashed a shot across the goal. At the other end, another mis-placed pass, this time from Guinan, allowed Walker to break, but after running nearly half the pitch, the former Bristol Rovers loanee placed a shot into the body of Randolph.
Kevin Betsy, who always caused problems for United when at Wycombe, struck a left-foot drive past Randolph's near post after easing past Kris Taylor. Barnard put Southend in front just shy of the half-hour mark, after a Betsy cross wasn't cleared. The ball fell to Freedman, who choose to pick out Barnard for an easy tap-in instead of shooting. The Bulls responded immediately, with a Taylor free-kick falling to Guinan at the back-post, who picked out Hudson-Odoi six yards out. Whether the youngster thought he was offside remains to be seen, but he put the ball wide when it looked easier to score. Matty Done replaced Williams towards the end of the first-half, with the loanee struggling with an injury sustained against Swindon. A fine burst and one-two involving Toumani Diagouraga and O'Leary allowed the Frenchman to test Steve Mildenhall, whilst at the other end, a looping header over Hereford's defence gave Barnard an opportunity in front of goal once more, but he was quickly closed down by the impressive Randolph.
The first-half offered much in terms of scoring opportunities, but the second-half failed to live up to this. After Richard Rose had bought down Barnard outside the box, Lee Sawyer smashed a free-kick into the wall. O'Leary curling effort from 20 yards was excellently pushed away by Mildenhall, whilst Sawyer's deft touch inside the box to meet a Francis cross fell inches wide. The strong-right back Francis smashed a shot over the bar, whilst an ambitious long-range volley by Jean Francois Christophe failed to trouble Randolph.
Hereford's best opportunity in the second period to equalise fell to Done after a Jackson cross reached him at the back-post; the former Wrexham winger though failed to get in under full control, and his left-foot strike was blocked by Mildenhall, who sustained an injury in doing so. He had to soldier on though, as there was no back-up goalkeeper on Southend's bench. Hal Robson-Kanu came on for Walker, and he nearly made an instance impact as he was found at the back-post, but his placed shot was pushed away by Randolph. Anthony Grant came on for Sawyer, whilst Hereford introduced Clint Easton in place of Smith late on. Six minutes were added on for stoppage time as Christophe again tried his luck from long-range but to no avail. Simon Johnson replaced O'Leary, and Damian Scannell got a short-run out replacing goalscorer Barnard. In the final minute of the game, Johnson won a free-kick which Taylor took. The ball was whipped into the danger area, and Done managed to strike goalwards, but it had little power and Mildenhall saved with ease.
In the battle of the teams with just one win, Southend were the ones to come out on top and claim their second victory for the season. For all Hereford's possession, they failed to create enough chances to capitalise on this; there needs to be more attacking options up front, with hopefully a return to 4-4-2 coming soon. If fit, the return of Karl Broadhurst and new signing Chadwick will help steady the ship and give another option up top. Next up for United is the visit of Scunthorpe, with a certain Gary Hooper expected to start for the third placed team.
Hereford: Randolph, Jackson, Rose, Beckwith, Taylor, Diagouraga, O'Leary, Smith, Hudson-Odoi, Williams, Guinan.
Subs: Samson, Oji, Easton, Done, Johnson.
Southend: Mildenhall, Francis, Clarke, Barrett, Harding, Betsy, Sawyer, Christophe, Walker, Freedman, Barnard.
Subs: Revell, Sankofa, Scannell, Grant, Robson-Kanu.