Phil fury at another Shrimpers stalemate
SOUTHEND manager Phil Brown insisted his side deserved more from their draw with Oxford at Roots Hall.
U’s striker Wes Thomas cancelled out Simon Cox’s opener for the Shrimpers.
But Brown thought his Southend side should have secured more than a point against a side two points above them.
“The game should have been dead and buried before Oxford scored, it should have been dead and buried by half-time and in the last 20 minutes as well,” said Brown.
“Of course it’s frustrating but the chances are still coming along and that’s the positive thing.
“We should be scoring more but we have to keep believing because if we do then hopefully we’ll turn the corner.
“We’ve had two goals disallowed for offside and that’s the way it’s going for us right now.
“Nile Ranger is definitely offside for his disallowed goal.
“But Michael Turner’s seems to be played back to him by their defender which in old money means he’s onside so I’ll be checking the rules with the officials.”
The Shrimpers – who remain 14th in the table – took the lead in the 19th minute when a fine left-wing cross from Stephen McLaughlin was tapped home by Cox from close range.
But the U’s hit back just three minutes later with Thomas brushing aside a weak challenge from Southend skipper Anton Ferdinand to score.
The Shrimpers came close to going back in front in the 41st minute when Josh Wright sent a 20-yard volley against the crossbar, but the U’s Josh Ruffels then saw a similar effort bounce back off the woodwork just before half-time.
After the break, Thomas fired wide of the right post before Southend pushed forward with Wright firing wide of the same post from six yards.
Meanwhile, Turner and Ranger both had efforts ruled out for offside on a frustrating afternoon.
But Oxford boss Pep Clotet was happy with a point.
“I’m satisfied with how the game went,” said Clotet.
“We put up a fight and our supporters were really loud and helped us.
“We did our hard work and we managed to create chances, but unfortunately we could not get one more goal than them.
“In the end we had to defend a lot of balls into the box and they asked a lot of questions, but I thought the team showed a lot of spirit and we took a point from a place where you can lose easily.”