2022/23 SEASON REVIEW: OCTOBER – News

Seven games in October gave Kevin Maher’s side the chance to move into the play-off race, but they would face tricky clashes with Woking and Dagenham & Redbridge at the start of the month.

Three games in a week later on, two of them against teams in the bottom four at the time, meant that if Blues could get a run going, they could take full advantage of the busy schedule.

We started October in the right way, extending our unbeaten run to three games after the promising end to September…

Back-to-back 1-0 wins

Southend United 1-0 Yeovil Town

Jake Hyde, one of the summer’s marquee signings, had found things tough in his first two months at Roots Hall, going off after 12 minutes on the opening day and then spending six weeks on the sidelines.

October would prove to be more positive for the striker, who netted four goals in all, including the winner against Yeovil Town on the first day of the month.

It was exactly the type of goal he was signed for, laying the ball out wide for Jack Bridge, who fashioned a crossing opportunity, and delivered it to Hyde, who headed in expertly, which was enough for all three points against the 10-man Glovers.

Three in five for Dackers

Southend United 1-1 Woking

Marcus Dackers had hit the ground running quicker than Hyde and his third Blues goal saved a point against seventh-placed Woking.

A high-tempered game saw Reece Grego Cox give the Cards the lead in the first 15 minutes, but Dackers continued to impress with a great volleyed finish after Noor Husin’s cross was deflected up into the air.

The game ended with a scuffle in front of the dugouts that saw Husin and three Woking players all booked. Both teams would have to put any disagreements to one side as they would meet again just ten days later in the Emirates FA Cup.

A point on TV

Dagenham & Redbridge 1-1 Southend United

BT Sport fancied showing our local clash against the Daggers and moved the trip to the Chigwell Construction Stadium to a 12:30 kick-off.

Blues would’ve been hoping to stop the rot against Daryl McMahon’s side after losing to them three times in 2021/22, but didn’t start in the best fashion. Junior Morias was allowed to carry the ball forward and fire past debutant goalkeeper Blondy Nna Noukeu.

Once again though, Maher’s men showed the progress they had made by coming from behind, Callum Powell nipping in ahead of a defender to finish a left-sided cross right in front of 1,100 travelling fans.

Out at the first hurdle…

Woking 2-1 Southend United

We could’ve been drawn against a whole host of teams in the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup, but were handed a very tricky trip to Woking, who had started the season well and would go on to finish fourth of course.

Maher showed his ambition for a cup run by playing a full-strength XI, bringing in Powell after his goal at Dagenham, but we conceded the first goal once again through a clever Padraig Amond free-kick.

A set-piece routine of our own, Bridge and Husin playing a one-two, before the latter crossed for Hyde to touch home, got us level. Amid a scrappy second half, a replay looked probable, but Ricky Korboa got a late winner meaning we were eliminated in the qualifying rounds of the FA Cup for the first time since 1924/25.

Our first comfortable win of the campaign

Southend United 3-0 Scunthorpe United

Despite the cup exit, Blues were still unbeaten in five in the Vanarama National League, and welcomed newly-relegated Scunthorpe to Roots Hall, who had struggled to adapt to life in the fifth tier.

Collin Andeng Ndi returned to the team and marked his comeback with a clean sheet, although he didn’t come under much pressure from the Iron’s frontmen.

We had to be patient in the first half, but that paid off when the ball was worked to Wes Fonguck as his effort was deflected in to open his account in a Southend shirt.

Hyde got a second-half brace, converting from Powell’s through-ball and then tapping home a Bridge cross after good work from Chris Wreh to seal a pleasing victory and move Blues up to ninth.

And another…

Maidstone United 0-3 Southend United

We were only allocated 500 tickets for our first-ever visit to The Gallagher Stadium, but those that were there witnessed another top performance as three very-well taken goals helped us continue to charge up the table.

Powell’s fifth goal of the season opened the scoring – after the ball was laid off to him, he hit a brilliant strike that curled perfectly into the corner, controlling the effort by striking it with the outside of his boot.

Bridge attempted to top that, picking the ball up after a corner was cleared and driving into the area, unleashing a bullet that arrowed into the net. Wreh added a goal of his own to make it back-to-back 3-0 wins.

Getting on a roll now…

York City 0-2 Southend United

There must be something lucky about making our first trip to a stadium, as York’s new Community Stadium was ticked off by many Blues fans with a 2-0 victory.

We hadn’t played away against the Minstermen since 2014, but they had started the season well after earning promotion from the National League North in 2021/22.

672 supporters made the journey, and were rewarded by a Southend side that were brimming with confidence. Both goals came from set pieces, Gus Scott-Morriss and Shaun Hobson heading home to send us into the play-offs for the first time in 2022/23.

That capped off a magnificent month all round for the team, and Hobson was rewarded with the National League Player of the Month title. We conceded just 13 goals in our first 16 games, and that saw the centre-back take the league honours. Our in-house awards were both won by Jack Bridge. He earned 33% of the Revolution Bars Player of the Month vote, beating Hobson to that one, and won MidexPRO Goal of the Month for his screamer at Maidstone.