Coughlan returns to Roots Hall in triumph

SOUTHEND UTD 1

Cox 39

SOUTHEND UNITED: Bishop 7, Turner 6 (Kightly 45, 6), White 6, Moore 6, Bwomono 6, Mantom 6, Yearwood 7, Dieng 6 (McLaughlin 45, 7), Hart 6 (Kelman 82, 6), Cox 8, Humphrys 6. Subs not used: Klass, Smith, Pitoula-Wabo,

BRISTOL ROVERS 2

Sercombe 20, Reilly 32

BRISTOL ROVERS: Bonham 7, Partington 7, Craig 7, Lockyer 7, Holmes-Dennis 7, Rodman 7, Ogogo 7, Ollie Clarke 8, Sercombe 8 (J Clarke 90, 6), Reilly 7 (Clarke-Harris 59, 6), Nichols 8 (Jakubiak 76, 6). Subs not used: Upson, Lines, Osho, Smith.

Att: 5,982 Rating: ★★★★★ Ref: Ollie Yates 7/10

GRAHAM Coughlan felt his Bristol Rovers side made their win at Southend “tougher than it needed to be”.

First-half goals from Liam Sercombe and Gavin Reilly secured all three points for the Pirates, who now sit just above the relegation zone.

And Coughlan, who spent eight years with the Shrimpers before joining Rovers in the summer, was thrilled with the display.

“I was delighted with the character, the spirit and the determination,” he said.

“Now I could stand here and argue about the quality, the missed chances and the goal against because we made it a lot tougher than it needed to be, but it’s the area of the table we’re in.

“The boys are flying and it’s great to be around them at the moment.”

In contrast, Chris Powell was frustrated with his Southend team.

“The fans have every right to be unhappy and for us to be 2-0 down wasn’t good enough,” he said.

“We looked afraid and nervous and we shouldn’t be like that at home.

“I don’t know if we’re getting edgy here. It’s understandable to a point, but if you start on the front foot then the fans go with you. There’s a small crumb of comfort in the way we responded in the second half.”

The Pirates dominated the first half at Roots Hall and came close to taking the lead after just minutes when Southend goalkeeper Nathan Bishop denied Ollie Clarke and Gavin Reilly with a stunning double save.

But, in the 20th minute, Rovers broke the deadlock with Liam Sercombe firing home after Tom Nichols had beaten Bishop to the ball.

Rovers doubled their lead in the 32nd minute with Reilly rolling home a controlled left-foot shot after being sent clean through on goal by Nichols. Southend got back into the game in the 39th minute with Simon Cox tapping home after Pirates goalkeeper Jack Bonham could only parry a longrange shot from Dru Yearwood.

But the Pirates stood firm in the second half and came close to making it 3-1 when Reilly slammed a well struck shot against the crossbar.

In reply, the Shrimpers saw an effort from Cox disallowed for offside as they slumped to their ninth home league defeat of the season.