Frustrating but enjoyable yesterday I thought ...

We played the team top of the league, with the best away record in the division and but for a few things going against us we could have very easily taken three points.

Two goals scored, two disallowed and a reasonable shout for a penalty turned away - I find it hard to understand what the Southend fans are getting so upset about can they claim to have those three things taken away yesterday?

All that fuss about our second goal, if they take a look at the replay, and I had a very clear view of this at the time, their Defender definately, without a shadow of a doubt, pushed Wright into their keeper ... in my view in a cynical attempt to get him sent off.

I thought the ref was spot on in the first half, let the game flow without being over fussy but did he ever come out with a mission to 'even thigns up' after the actions of Tilson and the Southend fans. For that he should be thoroughly ashamed of himself. Instead of doing his job (and doing it well on the basis of the first half) he instead tries to take the route of apeasing the Southend manager and fans.

On the plus side we certainly took our chances today, and four of them at that!

On the negative side, and I'm not criticising too much here but if you watch their goals again you'll find Paul Heckingbottom at fault (to a degree) on both, and I do wish he would learn this. On the first one he dives in with a challenge far too far up field for the left back to be doing that and leaves and awful lot of space for them to exploit. In fairness there was still a lot to do and they footballed us to death on that first one, but had they not been given that space in the first place then I doubt they'd have got that goal.

On the second it was his mis-placed pass that saw the ball coming straight back at us,again, in fairness to him there was still a lot for them to do and it was a cracking effort from Eastwood (who if the Southend fans are to be believed - there is now a new rule which says it's an automatic foul to tackle Mr Eastwood, at least that's what you would have thought listening to them). What is disappointing is to see one of the more experienced players making basic schoolboy errors. How many times were we all told not to dive in and over comitt and not to mess around with the ball when under pressure. I fully realise, before people get on my back, that Southend still had lots to do but I think that had Mr Heckingbottom just stood off his man rather than dived in and just put his laces through the ball and upfield rather than trying to thread it through three of their players then we would have taken all three yesterday.

Oh well ... certainly an exciting end to the season eh!