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Mode
of Transport:
McCarthy was behind the wheel, driving to Southend
from Cheltenham via Portsmouth and Haywards Heath. |
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Team:
Mr Wilkins chose to name a 4-4-2 line up consisting
of: Kuipers, Whing, Elphick, Butters, Mayo; Cox,
Racon, Thomson, Westlake; Murray, Forster. |
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Kit:
Southend were in their home kits consisting of
dark blue shirts, shorts and socks. Brighton went
for their alternative away colours of all white.
Michel Kuipers appeared in his aqua and gold jersey
alongside navy shorts and socks. Special note
must also go to Southend keeper Daryl Flahavan
for flairing it up in an all green kit. |
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Dean
Wilkins Attire:
Mr Wilkins was once present and he was suited
and booted. |
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Weather:
A warm day throughout, which presented problems
due to an air conditioning problem in the McCarthy
Mobile. |
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Stadium
Rating:
An old school stadium, Southend are in their final
few years at Roots Hall. A small main stand is
faced by an equally sized stand opposite, while
behind one goal is a classic double decker effort,
with away fans being housed behind the opposite
goal in a small seated affair with a barrel roof
that afford very little leg room but very much
atmosphere. Also worth noting is the lack of burger
hatch, with a room entitled "The Restaurant"
instead. Flair to the maximum. 5/10 |
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Food
Rating:
Hotdogs were of a decent standard, while pies
came with a plate which was rather novel. There
was nearly drama though when McCarthy told the
canteen staff that Potter hadn't paid when he
had, although thankfully the confussion was sorted
out quickly. 7/10 |
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Entertainment:
Cheerleaders were present, and up there in standard
with the Doncaster offering. Also on show was
a mascot that was supposed to represent the clubs
nickname of The Shrimps, although it excitingly
looked more like a Ku Klux Klan member. |
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Friendliness
of Locals:
We met several friendly locals, although this
was probably diluted due to the manner of their
victory. Several stereotypical Essex girls were
also spotted in the town, and often greeted with
a hooting of McCarthys horn and a round of abuse
from Rumble. 7/10 |
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Standard
of Local Females:
Essex Girls aplenty. While they may have been
what is more commonly known as prostitutes, they
were still fine. 8/10 |
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Steward
Rating:
Knew that the situation of
their stadium denoted that people would stand
to be able to see the game, and stewarded things
very sensibly. 8/10 |
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Flag
Attention:
We were unable to gauge the attention of the flag
as it is currently in Nottingham. Somewhere. |
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Match
Report:
Brightons chances of reaching the play off were
all but ended by a rampant and impressive Southend
side. An extremely poor first half saw Southend
completely outplay their fellow seaside club to
go in leading 2-0 at the break with two goals
of the highest quality. A much improved Albion
performance in the second half wasn't enough to
gain anything from the trip to Essex, and two
extremely disappointing defeats in the last four
days should ensure that it is League One football
for the third season running in 2008-2009. |
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Thought
of the Day:
McCarthy was explaining to the car how he had
a vital shorthand lesson to attend tomorrow morning
at 9.15am, when Rumble questioned if it was a
class in which he learnt about the life and times
of Jeremy Beadle. |
