The 10 men of Southend United were cruelly denied a point at Bristol Rovers, after a last minute own goal saw them suffer a 4-3 defeat.

The Blues manfully had to play out the final 25 minutes with just 10 men following the dismissal of Franck Moussa, having initially stormed into a two-nil lead in the first half.

Goals from Scott Vernon and Scott Spencer had put Southend into the ascendancy in this League One encounter, but despite Bristol Rovers battling back to take the lead, Vernon's second goal of the afternoon looked set to see them take away a point.

Instead, after Moussa was shown a red card, a cruel twist of fate saw Anthony Grant turn the ball into his own net in the third minute of injury time and leave Southend to make the journey home empty-handed.

From the first whistle Southend were quick out of the blocks and took the lead inside just five minutes, after Vernon was bundled over inside the box by Mikkel Anderson before stepping up himself to send the goalkeeper the wrong way from the resultant penalty.

Things got even better for the Blues in the 12th minute, as Spencer chased down a ball over the top from Adam Barrett and even though he found himself at an acute angle, he drilled a low shot underneath the body of Anderson and into the net.

It was the perfect start for Southend, who pressed and hurried their opponents for possession and took firm control, with only a crucial tackle denying Alan McCormack from charging through inside the box.

After a dangerous cross from Jo Kuffour was turned around the post by Pat Baldwin, Spencer had another sight of goal at the end of a good move, with Anderson making a vital block to deny the striker.

Bristol Rovers gradually started to find their feet, but it took some fortunate to see them pull a goal back, as Baldwin failed to get a proper connection in an attempted clearance and allowed Kuffour to take advantage and lob Steve Mildenhall in the 34th minute.

Within four minutes though, the hosts had got themselves on level terms after a seemingly soft award of a penalty, with Simon Francis adjudged to have fouled Chris Lines before Jeff Hughes blasted the spot kick past Mildenhall.

It was an eventful first half, but more was to come after the break, with Rovers taking the lead inside just seven minutes, as Hughes darted into penalty box from the left-hand side and arrowed a low shot into the net.

Southend didn't let their heads drop though and could have immediately equalised, after McCormack struck the post before the rebound came loose to Moussa, only for his strike to be cleared off the goal line.

More pressure from the Blues resulted in a great chance for Spencer, as Vernon flicked the ball into his path in front of goal, but his point-blank header was turned behind by Anderson.

Not to be denied a goal though, Southend equalised straight from the corner in the 57th minute, as Francis swung the ball over and Vernon headed it through a crowd of players and into the corner of the net.

The Blues' chances of going on from here to get a result though took a turn for the worst after Moussa foolishly kicked out at Byron Anthony in an off-the-ball incident and was shown a straight red card in the 65th minute.

Southend still continued to keep two men up front and only another smart save from Anderson denied Spencer scoring before a mazy run into the box from Jean-Francois Christophe ended with him blazing the ball over the top.

Mildenhall had not been pressed into making a serious save since Southend were hampered with the numerical disadvantage, but as we entered into stoppage time, Stuart Campbell drilled a cross in from the right flank and Grant inadvertently turned the ball into his own net.

It was an agonising way for Southend to lose the match, having impressively fought hard throughout the game in their fight at the bottom of the table and deserving to come away with at least a point from the Memorial Stadium.