Southend 2-0 Fleetwood Town
Two goals from Southend striker Barry Corr succumbed Fleetwood Town to a first away league defeat since the 31st of August as they went down 2-0 at Southend.
Town made two changes to the side which drew at home to league leaders Chesterfield last Saturday.
Charlie Taylor made his debut after signing on loan from Leeds earlier in the week, replacing Dean Howell at left back while David Ball was chosen to lead the line ahead of Jamille Matt.
And the striker had the first effort on goal shortly after the start, linking up well with Junior Brown down the right before his improvised volley was comfortably collected by Southend keeper Daniel Bentley.
This was one of only a handful of chances for both teams within the first 15 minutes as both sides took it in turns to enjoy possession without really threatening each other’s goal. .
Antoni Sarcevic was the closest for Town with the first real chance of the game, the midfielder doing well to cut inside but his shot was put straight into the hands of Bentley.
This miss proved costly for Town as just after the 20 minute mark a deep ball by Kevin Hurst was nodded in by Barry Corr at the back post to put the hosts in front.
Southend continued to bombard the Fleetwood area with crosses however the defence of Nathan Pond and Ryan Cresswell stood firm to deny Southend a second.
The Southend pressure seemed to spring Town into action and Sarcevic was unlucky not to level proceedings.
First his free kick beat both wall and keeper, but not the post as it thundered back of the woodwork.
Before moments later, a Fleetwood break saw Ball slip in Sarcevic who had his first shot blocked before seeing his second parried.
The second half started in much the same vein with Fleetwood enjoying much of the possession without really testing the Southend keeper.
Graham Alexander responded by making two attacking changes, strikers Jamille Matt and Jon Parkin were brought on to replace wingers Junior Brown and Ryan Crowther.
Fleetwood continued to attack the game and they were almost hit on the counter as again Hurst tricked his way into a crossing position before picking out Corr at the back stick who nodded inches wide.
The chances were coming at the other end too and a free kick in a dangerous position was struck straight into the wall by Jeff Hughes.
Fleetwood had several other free kicks in dangerous areas but all were either cleared or well saved and Fleetwood were left to pay in the 80th minute.
A driving run by Will Atkinson saw him enter the area before the referee decided Jeff Hughes had a part in the player going to ground.
Barry Corr stepped up and made no mistake as he fired into the top left corner to make it 2-0.
Conor Clifford could have added more to the scorleine as his low drive from 25 yards rattled the post.
Southend had further chances to add to their lead as Cauley Woodrow drove his shot past Davies but just past his far post.
Fleetwood pushed hard in the 5 minutes of added time but were unable to beat Southend keeper Daniel Bentley as the Cod Army missed out on going top of Sky Bet League 2.