David Webb had an unhappy return to Huish Park as his Southend United side suffered a devastating 4-0 defeat at the hands of Yeovil Town to end the Blues' run of 5 away games unbeaten. Goals from loanee Lee Elam, Darren Way, and two from young midfield maestro Lee Johnson saw the Glovers romp to victory to continue their superb home form.
Yeovil showed their intent early in the game and were unlucky just five minutes into the match when a looping shot from pacey striker Kevin Gall looped inches over the crossbar of Darryl Flahavan. The Blues defence continued to struggle with the home side's attacking style of play and the Glovers almost took the lead moments later after a Lee Johnson shot was superbly parried by Darryl Flahavan at his near post. The rebound fell to the feet of Under-21 international forward Kevin Gall who blazed his shot over from 6-yards.
Kevin Gall continued to lead the Yeovil front-line forward and showed confidence in his shooting ability when he struck a 25-yard drive towards goal, but Darryl Flahavan was able to claim the ball easily. Yeovil continued to pressurise the Blues throughout the first 25 minutes of the match with the Seasiders finding it difficult to cope with the Glovers' high tempo game. Gary Johnson's side looked a class above the Blues and lay on the pressure with a succession of corner-kicks that Darryl Flahavan did well to claim.
Southend saw their first chance on goal in the 28th minute. A long ball forward from Lewis Hunt was flicked on to Jay Smith by Drewe Broughton. Jay Smith then looped the ball over the Glovers' back-line and Tesfaye Bramble was able to battle his way between Adam Lockwood and Terry Skiverton to blast a blistering strike from 7-yards. Yeovil keeper Chris Weale managed to magnificently block the shot as he raced off of his line to meet the Southend United forward.
The Blues began to see more of the ball in the attacking third and Drewe Broughton ,who is still desperately seeking his first league goal of the 2003-2004 campaign, connected well with a 22-yard volley, but the ambitious strike flew well wide of Weale's posts.
32 minutes into the match the home side broke the deadlock with a long-range strike from Lee Elam. The tricky winger, who is on-loan from Halifax Town, received the ball after Lewis Hunt headed a Lee Johnson corner-kick clear. Elam then drilled his shot goal-wards from 20-yards and was fortunate as the ball deflected off of Jay Smith changing the direction of the shot completely and leaving Darryl Flahavan with no chance of preventing the home side from taking the lead.
Just 8 minutes later the Glovers extended their lead to two goals as Darren Way netted his second goal of the season. Yeovil Town's player of the season for the 2002-2003 campaign managed to connect with a stinging right-footed volley from 12-yards after a accurate cross from creative midfielder Lee Johnson.
The Glovers ended a rampant 10-minute spell of pressure that destroyed the Blues with a third goal in the 42nd minute. After Lewis Hunt collided with Jake Edwards the referee awarded a dubious free-kick 22-yards from goal. Lee Johnson stepped up and stuck a dazzling free-kick that curled into the top-right corner of the net leaving Darryl Flahavan helpless to effectively seal the points for last year's Conference league champions.
Half-time saw the introduction of both Michael Husbands and Duncan Jupp in place of Drewe Broughton and Jim Corbett. 10 minutes into the second half and a controversial decision by the assistant referee as he flagged for a hand-ball in the penalty area by Mark Gower as he blocked Lee Johnson's cross on the right-wing. Arguing between officials and players followed before Lee Johnson stepped up to cap a superb performance from the young Yeovil midfielder as he slotted the ball coolly down the centre of the goal beating Darryl Flahavan. Then after a discussion between the assistant referee and referee Mr P Armstrong, the referee awarded Neil Jenkins a red-card for the use of foul and abusive language.
The Blues' final substitution was made in the 63rd minute as Che Wilson was replaced by Mark Warren. Although the Blues had spells of possession they failed to threaten the Glovers, who looked comfortable to pass the ball around and play out the remainder of the game at a relaxed tempo. However, Yeovil almost scored their fifth of the match in the 81st minute as a Darren Way cross was met by the head of Kirk Jackson, whose header crashed against the Blues' crossbar before going over Darryl Flahavan's goal. The Blues were close to scoring an injury-time consolation goal as Mark Warren hit a crashing drive from a 25-yard free-kick that Chris Weale was unable to handle, but the Yeovil keeper was able to recover the ball seconds before the referee blew his whistle to signal an end to the match.
With the Blues preparing to face Canvey in the important FA Cup encounter this Wednesday, David Webb will be disappointed with the performance shown as Yeovil Town completely out-classed and over-powered a battling Blues' side. With Southend now back in the relegation zone, Blues' fans will be hoping for a drastic improvement as Southend face Rochdale at home next Saturday.
Lewis Crowe
