Southend United will have just League One duties to focus on this season, after making a first round exit from the FA Cup in a 3-0 defeat at Gillingham.
Despite the good news off the field, with it announced before kick-off that the tax had been paid to HMRC, Southend were unable to repeat their victory over Gillingham in the league just eight days earlier.
Although Steve Mildenhall saved a penalty, Gillingham did the damage by scoring two goals in quick succession in the first half to set them up for a place in the second round of the competition.
Jean-Francois Christophe had an early sight of goal, but blazed over the top before a free kick from Simon Francis was safely gathered by goalkeeper Simon Royce at his near post.
James Walker then had a great chance to put Southend in front, as he cut inside the box and lined up a shot that was deflected towards goal and although Royce pushed the loose ball into the path of Dougie Freedman, he could only head over the top.
Yet Gillingham soon found themselves with an even better opportunity to take the lead, with Francis adjudged to have pushed over Febian Brandy inside the box, as the referee pointed to the spot in the 16th minute.
Simeon Jackson stepped up, but Mildenhall dived to his left and made an impressive one-handed save to push the ball around his goal.
Gillingham quickly recovered from such a miss, as Andy Barcham soon had the ball laid into his path inside the box, but with space to take aim, he rushed his effort and drilled over the top.
The pressure from the home side did soon tell though, as Curtis Weston quickly exchanged passes with Brandy before racing inside the box and lifting the ball over the advancing Mildenhall and into the net.
A further three minutes later and the Gills doubled their lead, with Brandy getting away down the left-hand side of the penalty box and arrowing a low shot underneath the body of Mildenhall.
Southend soon needed a reshuffle at the back, with Johnny Herd coming off injured to be replaced by Damian Scannell in the 31st minute, which saw Anthony Grant move to left-back and Christophe switch into the centre of defence.
Brandy nearly added a third goal for Gillingham, as he raced down the left flank, bypassing two challenges to get inside the box before Mildenhall kept out his low shot from an acute angle.
At the other end, Francis Laurent ran into the box from the right, but he couldn't keep his shot down and saw the ball sail over the top before the threat of Brandy continued to cause problems as Mildenhall pushed away his 15 yard strike at the end of the first half.
Scannell looked to cause problems down the left wing as we entered the second half, with a high cross palmed away by Royce, but Gillingham were soon celebrating again in the 62nd minute.
Former Southend midfielder Mark Bentley put the game beyond doubt when he arrived at the far post to head the ball past Mildenhall and into the net via the left-hand post.
The Blues continued to battle, but light on numbers and shorn of the services of the suspended Alan McCormack and Lee Barnard, it was always going to be a tough ask at the Priestfield Stadium.
With Mark McCammon running in the clear, Christophe did well to race back and deny him the chance to get a shot on goal before Freedman should have pulled a goal back in the closing 15 minutes.
Royce was caught off his line and with Walker's deflected shot falling to Freedman in front of a gaping goal, he looked certain to score, but he shot wide of the target.
Royce soon made an excellent save to keep out a header from Christophe before youth team players Kyle Asante and Julian Okai came on to make their debuts in the closing stages of the match.
Southend: Mildenhall, Francis, Grant, Barrett, Herd (Scannell 31), Laurent (Okai 89), Christophe, O'Keefe, Moussa, Walker (Asante 83), Freedman
Gillingham: Royce, Fuller, Lewis (Maher 61), Bentley, Palmer, Jackson, Barcham (Nutter 63), Gowling, Fry, Weston, Brandy (McCammon 70).
