Southend United 1-1 Bristol Rovers (League Two)

Matt Harrold's header was cancelled out by Kevan Hurst's 20 yard effort in an entertaining game at Roots Hall on Friday evening. Searching for their first points on the road, Rovers defended well to weather the Southend storm and created enough chances to feel disappointed not to have won the game.

Lifted from: itv.com

It was a tight affair given the poor form both sides had heading into the clash but the game burst to life in an exciting second half. The first 45 minutes saw half-hearted efforts to break the deadlock although there were two big penalty appeals, one for both sides. The Rovers claim came first. A cross from the right hand side of the box was blocked by the arm of a Shrimpers defender and bounced out for a corner. John-Joe O'Toole led the demonstrations to the referee but he was clearly of the opinion that it was unintentional. From my point of view, both at the time and having seen the replay, the position of the defender's arm was not natural and he blocked a threatening ball into the penalty box - it should have been a penalty. The second shout came after midfielder Tom Lockyer stupidly tripped Hurst as he skipped into the penalty area from the right but the referee, perhaps realising he had made a mistake in not awarding Rovers a spot-kick, signalled simply for a goal-kick as the ball rolled out of play.

The second period was a lot more lively and Rovers came out of the blocks quickly in a bid to score early. It was a plan that worked as a former Shrimper came back to haunt his former club. The ever-impressive Michael Smith made an overlapping run down the right and lifted a good ball into the danger zone where Harrold was on hand to head beyond Daniel Bentley. The celebrations were tremendous in front of the travelling Rovers supporters and there was a real sense that we could go on to stamp our authority on the match.

Our hosts made an immediate attempt to claw their way back into proceedings but found it difficult to create any clear openings due to the stubbornness of both Tom Parkes and Mark McChrystal in the heart of the defence. Substitute Josh Payne was a constant threat though and a couple of marauding runs from the left touchline saw him find shooting opportunities but thankfully they flew well wide on each occasion. Despite Rovers defending well, Southend did break our rearguard midway through the half courtesy of Hurst. The midfielder was given the time to turn 20 yards out and fire a good shot past Steve Mildenhall into the bottom left hand corner.

At this point the game could have gone either way. Southend continued to press forward but Rovers created a few very good chances to steal the points. The first fell to Parkes following a free-kick that was delivered by Lee Brown. The ball was worked back across the 18 yard line and Parkes had time to take the ball on a couple of paces but he was immediately closed down and his effort was blocked by a lunging home centre half. He was just a little too slow to react initially and we had to settle for a corner. Barry Corr struck wide when well placed for our hosts before Harrold saw a right footed effort trickle into the arms of a grateful Bentley.

The game looked to be heading for a draw but there was still one glorious chance left and it fell the way of the usually reliable O'Toole. A counter attack saw Harrold play a lifted square pass across the box to an unmarked O'Toole who brought the ball down with his chest and fired towards goal from 8 yards out, only to see a desperate sliding block send the ball behind for a corner. Gasheads fell to the floor in disappointment as it seemed for all the world like JJ would be able to rifle home but it just wasn't to be.

The final whistle sounded and it marked a positive step forward in the progress that this young Rovers team are making at the moment. It was a much improved performance from some of the ones we've witnessed recently away from home and it means that we are now two games unbeaten heading into a tricky home clash with Fleetwood Town. 3 points at the Mem on Saturday would be very welcome although it won't be an easy task to defeat a Cod Army that boast the likes of Jeff Hughes and Jon Parkin in their ranks.