There was still a glow from the kitchen light, set against the last remnants of dawn skies as I headed down the garden path. The streets were quiet as the sun was threatening to sneak above the horizon around Emley Moor in the far distance. It was another early start, this time with 233-miles ahead of us and the potential perils of the motorway network. Southend away has rarely been a happy hunting ground for the Shaymen.
With many of the usual suspects making excuses, having themselves witnessed a string of unhappy results at Roots Hall in recent years, we were delighted to be joined by satirical Chadders. Cricket aficionado, master of the one liner, and with an encyclopaedic knowledge of real ale, you can only imagine just how excited Tesco Pete was when I shared the news. To be fair, the first three hours of the journey on a bright September morning passed by in no time.
With our usual breakfast stop unavailable, we took the advice of Chadders and headed for a quiet countrified independent breakfast cabin. All was going well until they brought the food to the table, one egg, one, sausage, one bacon, 18 beans and three mushrooms. It was like one of those posh fitness detox places. I’m sure those in the south eat like that regularly, but within minutes we were eyeing up the possibility of round two. Fair enough, it was high quality but give us quantity before you start worrying about napkins and earl grey tea next time!
Arriving in Southend ahead of schedule, having expected breakfast to have taken much longer than it did, we sneaked into our secret free parking spot. In an instant Pete was off to the chippy, whilst the eager home fans started to arrive in anticipation of watching the Shaymen for the first time this season. With an advanced admission of £23 we were guided to the blue seats behind one of the goals under an old, corrugated iron barrelled roof. To our right, sharing the same stand gathered the noisiest of the noisy home fans, along with a wonderful bass drum.
If the first half the Shaymen attacked our end in the warm sunshine with around 100 travelling fans in attendance. The game was competitive with Town holding their own for the first 30 minutes. When Southend took the lead, scoring at the far end, the ground erupted. The fans alongside us sounded like an unhappy washing machine with the constant thud of their bass drum drowning out any possibility of hearing what they were singing. The town fans were incensed shortly afterwards when what looked like a blatant penalty was turned down, only for the referee to award Southend a free kick. They surely don’t come any clearer than that, perhaps it’s all about viewing angles.
Town started the second half well keeping the home side at bay. It was an improvement in intensity from the first half. Town were then reduced to ten men with a second booking. The tackle looked no worse than any other tackles on the day, all of which had gone unpunished. From that point on, Town were up against it but battled hard. The 14 minutes of injury time didn’t help either as Southend added another two goals past the 90-minute mark. The final scoreline perhaps wasn’t a fair reflection of the contest, even though Southend deserved the three points.
At full time the team were applauded off for a decent effort. Southend is always a difficult place to visit, with a player down and 8,000 home fans in attendance, it was unlikely to be our day from the moment we went behind.
Next up and we’re off to Gateshead, one of those places we always seem to do well at. I’m sure there will be a decent away following too.
C’mon Shaymen!
Miles on the road: 1726. Goals on the road: 3 Points on our travels 4
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