Old Southendian (4) – 6 Brentwood Academy – 1

The anticipation was palpable as we gathered under doom laden skies (is there any other type of sky in Southend?), ready to face off against a known formidable opponent. There was a quiet determination we knew we were the underdogs but hope and determination coursed through our veins. Little did we know, the rollercoaster of emotions that awaited us.

The match began with a bang, and the Academy surprised everyone, perhaps everyone including ourselves. We displayed excellent teamwork, swiftly passing the ball and maintaining strong possession. We mounted attack after attack. Everything was functioning well we dominated the first ten. The break-through was deserved with our third short corner. Strange one this. I was sent back to the half-way line before taking the corner. It took a while and a bit of explaining that one of our players had entered the D before the short was taken, so I as the injector had to retreat. Chris Minor came in to start the short. It was a bit of a melee with the ball coming to Rob Sanders his effort deflected off various sticks and keepers pad before arriving back at Chris just over head hit. The tennis like smash was perfect hitting a Southend defender square on the foot – he could do nothing at all about it. Rob Sanders stepped up for the flick and no mistake high to the keepers right.

To be fair that was the highlight of the game. It didn’t drop off immediately, but our performance gradually ebbed away. We were a little unlucky with injuries, Darshan found himself in a situation will all get into from time to time where your body is essentially a ball magnet, and he took a couple of blows that saw him off for extended periods of time and Fraser also had similar issues needing rest and recuperation. I think its fair to say we badly lost our shape which had served us so well for the opening period and found ourselves chasing shadows as the opposition worked out were the weak spots were. Southend went in 2-1 up at the break. Both their goals came from crash balls into the D, I’m not going to say they were lucky, its clearly something they work on and play for but given both times there were considerable deflections with Brentwood players working to close down the initial hit made us feel a little unfortunate.

I’m now going to be a little lazy. Its rare that other teams write match reports but I’m now handing over to Old Southendians for their report on the game. It’s copied in full here. It feels entirely accurate, and I have nothing to add.

“After a slow start against one of the better sides we've faced so far we found ourselves on the back foot and went a goal down after 10 mins from a PF. Gradually we woke up and turned things around with goals from Pete and Clarky to give us a narrow lead at the break. At that point it was a close game and still more work to do.
But in the second half we stepped up a gear and Brentford had no response. Four more goals followed as we dominated all over the pitch with an excellent team performance, which has lifted us to 3rd in the league.”

In the aftermath of our 6-1 defeat, the team was crestfallen, we know we are better than what we put out on the pitch. The early optimism and enthusiasm gave way to a sense of disappointment and frustration. We had started the game with a blaze of glory, displaying teamwork, skill, and resilience. But as the match progressed, our opponent's experience and adaptability had overwhelmed us.

It was a harsh lesson in the unforgiving nature of sports. However, I’m sure collectively we are determined to use this defeat as a learning experience. This will serve as a stepping-stone towards future wins. In the end, we know that it was not the scoreline that defined us, but the spirit, unity, and resilience with which we approached the game – NOTE: try telling that to the England rugby team 12 hours later and see what response you get. Under doom laden skies I got out of Southend as fast as Pinky’s car and traffic on the A127 would take me.

Team: Richard Boothe, Fraser McLauchlan, Simon Parsons, Peter Anderson, Sam Anderson, James McKay, Gary MacDonnell, Chris Minor, Dilshan Gandhi, Jake Sanders, Rob Sanders, Jake Sanders, Doug Muncey, Max Bakal.

Man of the Match: Sam Anderson. Very composed throughout worked offensively and defensively diligently. Kudos to Max for an excellent final period of the game stepping up when we at our most disjointed.