FC Halifax Town fell to just their third defeat on the road all season; despite a quiet first half, the second was all action. Southend raced into a two-goal lead following two nearly identical corner routines. The Shaymen did get one back after a lovely Luca Thomas run; however, the two-goal lead was restored shortly after. Kendall slotted away for the Shrimpers as they claimed all three points.
Adam Adetoro and Max Wright were the two changes introduced to the Shaymen starting eleven for the long trip to Essex to face Southend.
It took twenty minutes for the game’s first big chance to come; a Southend set piece fell to Hopper, whose nod down landed into the feet of Walker, but his shot was straight at Sam Johnson from 8 yards out. Max Wright then found space down the right, but his shot was sliced out for a goal kick.
The first booking of the game came for the town after half an hour played. It was awarded to Owen Bray after he was slightly late to a fifty-fifty in the middle of the park.
Southend controlled most of the first half, and it was Charley Kendall who had their next opportunity. He shimmied inside and then out on the edge of the box before firing just over the bar. A minute later Gus Scott-Morris had an opportunity to open the scoring, but his effort looped onto the roof of the net.
Town’s first change of the night was an attacking-minded one with Zak Emmerson replacing Owen Bray.
Ten minutes into the first half, Southend took a deserved lead; Morton’s deep corner was met by a towering header from Gus Scott-Morriss for his tenth league goal of the season.
The Shrimpers doubled their lead in the same way they scored their first. An inswinging corner just three minutes after they took the lead found Tom Hopper at the back post, who calmly placed the ball into the back of the net.
Halifax’s next changes gave Luca Thomas and Tom Pugh twenty minutes to change the game for the Shaymen.
Jack Evans did have a half chance to halve the deficit for the away side; Senior’s low ball found the 24-year-old on the edge of the box, but his half volley fell wide of the post. Nick Hayes received a booking following this for delaying the restart.
In the 83rd minute hope was restored for the Shaymen and the fans in the away end; the subs really impacted this game, and it was the Leeds loanee Luca Thomas who restored the deficit to one.
His wriggling run ended with a low driven shot that Hayes couldn’t quite keep out. This was Thomas’s second for Halifax after joining in the January transfer window.
This hope wasn’t prolonged; however, just two minutes later, the home side restored their two-goal cushion through Kendall, who raced through on goal before smashing home for his first goal for Southend. Adetoro was booked for his protests following the goal.
In an action-packed final five minutes, Halifax went close twice in the search for a second. Adetoro’s header took a heavy deflection as it flew towards goal before Scott High’s effort was well saved by Hayes.
Southend introduced the experienced Oliver Coker and James Golding with ninety minutes on the clock as they looked to see out the game, and that they did.
Match Stats:
Southend United
1 Nick Hayes, 2 Gus Scott-Morriss, 3 Nathan Ralph, 7 Jack Bridge (18 James Golding 89), 8 Noor Husin, 11 Josh Walker (22 Leon Parillon 77), 16 Harry Taylor, 20 Ben Goodliffe, 21 Tom Hopper (9 Macauley Bonne 71), 23 James Morton, 24 Charley Kendall (28 Oliver Coker 89)
Subs: 32 Anssi Kaakkola, 4 George Wind, 22 Keenan Appiah-Forson
FC Halifax Town:
1 Sam Johnson ©, 5 Adam Senior, 27 Adam Adetoro, 15 Will Smith, 3 Ryan Galvin, 6 Jack Evans, 30 Scott High, 26 Owen Bray (21 Zak Emmerson 53), 7 Max Wright (23 Tom Pugh 73), 10 Jamie Cooke, 11 Angelo Cappello (9 Luca Thomas 67)
Subs: 12 Nathaniel Ford, 4 Festus Arthur, 14 Harvey Sutcliffe, 20 Jack Jenkins
Referee: Richard Eley
Goals: Scott-Morriss 54, Hooper 58, Thomas 84, Kendall 86
Yellow Cards: Bray 33, Hayes 80, Adetoro 86
Red Cards: None
Attendance: 6250 (42 away)
Southend United 3 FC Halifax Town 1
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