Dartford 2 Southend United 0

Southend United's opening pre-season friendly against Dartford ended in a 2-0 defeat on Friday evening.

But despite the result it proved a solid first workout for boss Paul Sturrock's newly assembled squad which included a number of trialists.

Southend lined up in their new away strip, kicking from right-to-left and began an attack down the left through full back Peter Gilbert which was quickly cut out.

Early pressure from Southend inside the opening ten minutes climaxed with Sofiene Zaaboub crashing the crossbar with a smashing left foot volley from 20 yards.

A good cross from Zaaboub from the left hand side was easily dealt with by Darts keeper Deren Ibrahim as Southend enjoyed some early possession.

A bad goal kick from Ibrahim somehow made its way through to Dartford striker Lee Burns but Burns was flagged offside before shooting at goal.

Great defending from Blues left-back Peter Gilbert interrupted some good passing from Dartford halfway through the first half.

With possession changing often, there were little chances in the opening stages, however Southend were looking the better side.

More pressure from Sturrock's side down the left, resulted in Anthony Grant blazing a decent opportunity over the bar.

A fantastic driving run from Grant and a sublime through ball allowed Crawford to shoot on goal, an effort which was well saved by Ibrahim, as Southend looked more likely to open the scoring.

Great passing from the Blues, centred around the new strike partnership of former youth team player Harry Crawford and new signing Blair Sturrock had the crowd on their feet and a fine piece of control from Sturrock momentarily allowed Grant again to run into the box. The crowd held their breath, but a soft penalty appeal was waved away.

Ryan Hall then went very close to scoring a spectacular free-kick from 25 yards on the half-hour, but unfortunately his attempt sailed just over the bar.

The Blues successfully managed to soak up some Dartford pressure in the later stages of the first half, with Lee Burns shot well blocked by Craig Easton the final action of the first half.

The second half saw Paul Sturrock introduce seven substitutions in an attempt to give game time to all that travelled.

It was Ryan Hall, however, who had the first chance of the second half fell to, his impressive chip beat Ibrahim but was agonisingly cleared off the line form Darts defender Billy Burgess.

The next chance fell to Dartford's Danny Harris with a great looping header beating the goalkeeper but crashing against the right hand post. Another chance quickly fell to Harris again but he was unable to capatalise and the Blues could breathe again after clearing the danger.

Hall again showed some great imagination deep inside the Darts half with 55 minutes played, cutting inside and playing a through ball to Zaaboub who unluckily blazed over.

Dartford began to look more and more dangerous on the break and a goal finally came on 58 minutes after a run from substitute Danny Harris. He looked up; found Ryan Hayes in space with a square pass, who slotted home from ten yards with a low left foot drive.

The attendance of 619 began to see some attacking play from Dartford after the opening goal, with striker Charlie Sheringham looking dangerous on a number of occasions as his more famous father Teddy watched on from the stands.

Hesitant defending from Southend was almost punished from a short corner deep into the second half. A great cross by Ryan Hayes was almost headed goal wards but for a crucial interception from Easton.

Dartford's second goal came in the 73rd minute after a good attack down the left hand side; man of the match Harris carried the ball into the box, rounded the keeper and squared for Adam Burchell to tap in.

Shortly after, a goal bound header was saved from the goalkeeper as the Darts piled players forward in search of a goal that would effectively end any faint chances of a Southend comeback.

The latter stages of the second half saw United take some positivity by the way they dominated possession. This possession was unfortunately not turned into chances on goal as the game came to an end.

With two minutes added time shown by the assistant referee, Dartford moved forward again and Harris came close to adding a third, but shot a half chance over the top of the crossbar.

This proved to be the last attack of the game as Dartford ran out winners.