Having been undone by a series of penalties in the past week, it was a spot kick that counted in Southend United's favour which helped the team pick up three points in a 2-0 win at Stockport County.
The Blues were able to bounce back from defeats to Oldham Athletic and Brentford, whereby they conceded three penalties, as Lee Barnard scored twice to provide a winning return to form.
Barnard opened the scoring from the spot and with Stockport also reduced to 10 men, the striker went on to cap the victory with a final minute strike.
Southend actually had shouts for a penalty turned down within the opening two minutes, after Francis Laurent's shot appeared to strike the hand of Michael Raynes.
A quick break forward then allowed the Blues to provide the first serious threat of the afternoon, with Dougie Freedman starting the move by setting Barnard free down the right wing.
Barnard cut inside the box and was able to force a save from Owain Fon Williams before Franck Moussa then pounced on the rebound, only to also be denied by the goalkeeper who made another stop to push the ball behind.
Both teams were looking to play football at Edgeley Park, but it was a case of few chances being created in the final third to match the endeavour.
Southend were awarded a free kick in a decent position outside the box and Simon Francis was extremely close to scoring again following his midweek goal at Brentford, as he arrowed the ball narrowly wide of the left-hand post.
After the break, Steve Mildenhall was pressed into action to hold on to Nicholas Bignall's fierce strike from 15 yards, but Southend soon had the perfect opportunity to take the lead in the 57th minute.
With Barnard looking to break through on goal, he was stopped in his tracks as Paul Huntington held him back inside the box and although the referee initially waved away a penalty appeal, he soon pointed to the spot on the advice of his linesman.
Huntington was shown a red card and Barnard coolly stepped up to score his ninth goal of the season.
Southend should have doubled their lead when Laurent squared the ball to an unmarked George Friend inside the area, but his shot cannoned back off the right-hand post before Fon Williams turned Barnard's follow-up wide.
The numerical advantage was allowing Southend to take control, but Stockport handed a warning when Bignall drilled an effort goalwards which Mildenhall could only scramble clear.
The same player was then inches away from connecting with Michael Rose's cross in front of goal before only a terrible tackle from Raynes, which earned him a booking, stopped Laurent's brilliant run towards goal.
Stockport saw their own appeals for a penalty turned down when Bignall went down with Osei Sankofa and Jean-Francois Christophe in close attention.
Barnard had a shot charged down inside the box, as he collected the impressive Laurent's pass, but he was soon on target to make it double figures for the season with his 10th goal in injury time.
Barnard took full advantage of hesitancy in the Stockport defence to charge down Raynes' clearance and although his initial strike in front a gaping goal crashed off the crossbar, he picked up the rebound and slotted it into the back of the net to seal the win.
Southend: Mildenhall, Francis, Sankofa, Barrett, Friend, Laurent, Grant (Christophe 68), McCormack, Moussa, Freedman, Barnard.
Stockport: Fon Williams, Mullins, Rose, Bridcutt, Raynes, Vincent (Thompson 78), Tansey, Baker, Poole (Pilkington 67), Bignall, Huntington.
