The ten men of Southend United's under 18 side were on the end of a 4-0 defeat at the weekend.

Marcus Milner's first half dismissal the Blues downfall for as second place Queens Park Rangers hit four past Ricky Duncan's side.

But despite the loss against the second placed side, United are still holding onto the top spot in the Youth Alliance by a point.

Milner saw red after an off the ball incident in the 30th minute with the score poised at 0-0.

And Duncan admitted that Milner's sending off was out-of-character.

"We started the game really well and to be honest, I thought there was only going to be one winner," said Duncan.

"We had a good hold on the game and QPR weren't troubling us, but Marcus Milner has had a run with their full-back.

"He knocked Marcus over as they were both going for the ball and it rolled over for a goal kick.

"Their full-back then ran back and made some comment to Marcus and he has slapped him around the head and been given a straight red card.

"That was very disappointing for the team and obviously, I was very disappointed in Marcus.

"It is not something he normally does and I'm not sure why he did it, but it put us down to 10 men and QPR scored literally five minutes after the red card from a free kick.

"I can't fault the 10 boys and substitutes, because I thought they worked ever so hard to try and get back into the game.

"After the match, Marcus apologised to all the players. He has never done anything like that before and I think he'll learn from that, but it cost us three points against QPR."

That opening goal was to set the tone for the rest of the match, with Southend forced to readjust.

Despite the numerical disadvantage, Blues did approach the second half well and controlled the game for the opening 15 minutes, with Justin Hazell heading narrowly over the top from close range.

Within two minutes QPR hit United on the counter attack and doubled their lead. A dubious penalty then saw Alex Woodyard harshly penalised for handball with QPR adding a third goal from the spot.

Rangers then added a fourth game to complete the disappointment for Duncan's side, who now need to pick themselves up for the remaining four league games of the season.

Photo: Graham Bridgeman-Clarke