Town slip out of play-off places after heavy defeat at Southend

FC Halifax Town dropped out of the National League playoff places after a 3-0 defeat at Southend United, writes Tom Scargill.

Goals from Henry Sandat and Gus Scott-Morriss consigned The Shaymen to their heaviest defeat of the season and only their second defeat in the last two months.

Shipping three goals for only the third time this season will be a concern, but not as much as Town's ineffectiveness in attack, which keeps rearing its ugly head.

It can only be hoped it doesn't prove costly in the race for the top seven. It was a big difference between the teams here.

There was very little to separate the sides at halftime other than Sandat's goal, which looked too easy from a Southend perspective as a long ball over the top put the striker clean through to the left of the box and his shot went through the legs of Sam Johnson just three minutes in.

It was the second-quickest goal The Shaymen had conceded this season - after Will Grigg's for Chesterfield - and meant they would have to fight back from a goal down against The Shrimpers for the second time this term.

Jamie Cooke fired in a superb shot from Florent Hoti's cross ten minutes after the restart but keeper Collin Andeng Ndi reacted with a fine save.

He also kept out Andrew Oluwabori's effort a few minutes later, with Halifax the only side creating anything, Southend having failed to get going since the break.

But chances were sporadic in a game where both defences were the strongest area of the teams.

"Quicker!", yelled Chris Millington as his Town side struggled to do much else than pass the ball around without much progress.

There didn't look to be many other goals in the contest, so a second for Southend would have been decisive, and nearly was when Brooklyn Kabongolo's shot was cleared off the line by Cooke.

Not long after that though, Southend's killer second came when Nathan Ralph was given far too much time to pick out a low cross from the byline, and ScottMorriss converted it in the middle.

Scott-Morriss nodded in a cross from the left five minutes from time for his second and Southend's third.