Southend United 0 v 1 Charlton Athletic

Tuesday 9th November 2010
Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Southern Area Quarter Final
Roots Hall, Southend-on-Sea

Admission: £8.00

Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 4373
Match Rating: 2

There were several factors which motivated me into making the trip along the south Essex coast to Southend-on-Sea for this game. Charlton were playing and are currently in a run of good form, Southend had reduced ticket prices to a very sensible price of just £8.00 for adults for this Johnstone's Paint Trophy Southern Area Quarter Final, with regulations now in place to ensure that the majority of each team would comprise of first team players. I was also motivated to visit Roots Hall once more whilst I still could, an old-fashioned stadium that is very much living on borrowed time, with the club hoping to relocate to a new stadium in the near future and with Sainsbury's eager to take over the land to build a superstore on it. Having paid a deposit for the land and recently provided loans to Southend United to stave off administration, it is reasonable to imagine that Sainsbury’s do not consider the football club to be a charity and will become increasingly impatient to take over Roots Hall as soon as possible.

Roots Hall is located less than a ten minute walk from Prittlewell train station, and whilst it is rather small, close-knit and old-fashioned, it is all the better for it. Away fans are housed behind a goal in the north end of the stadium, and offers seating bolted on to what used to be terracing. Behind the other goal is the most modern stand in the ground, two tiered and I would imagine the top tier would offer excellent views of the action, being directly above the bottom tier and therefore very close to the pitch but with an elevated view. Along both lengths are old-fashioned stands. Obstructing pillars are present in every stand. The programme was adequate, obviously a reduced version of the normal publication with the cost reduced by a third from the normal price.

Charlton would certainly have been considered favourites going into this game, not only playing in a division above Southend, but also Charlton have hit some good form recently, winning three of their last four games since their humiliating 0-4 home defeat to Brighton, and have not conceded goal in their last three games, and are handily placed in 5th place in League 1. Southend, on the other hand, have only won one of their last five games, and find themselves in 16th place in League 2.

On a chilly, for the most part dry evening, the match turned out to be a rather disappointing affair, with precious few real goal scoring opportunities at either end. Charlton were certainly the better side in the first half, with Southend for the most part unable to get a real grip on the game, and on 28 minutes, Therry Racon scored what turned out to be the winning goal for Charlton with a wonderful goal that was out of keeping with the game. Making a tackle to prevent a Southend counter attack, Racon gained possession of the ball, moved forward a few paces before curling a lovely low shot past the keeper from 25 yards, with the aid of a deflection. In the second half, Southend were a far better team as they kept possession better and created some reasonable chances, forcing Charlton into ever more desperate clearances. Charlton also had half chances to extend their lead, but in the end, they held out for a win they just about deserved, despite Southend's improved second half performance.