Words John Edwards | Picture Jonathan Moore

Southend 2 Altrincham 1

Altrincham threw everything at salvaging a point and had two penalty appeals turned down in a dramatic seven minutes of added time, but ultimately an uncharacteristically disjointed first-half performance left them with too much to do at a sun-baked Roots Hall.

For 45 minutes, the Robins were nowhere near the heights that have taken them into the play-off positions in the Vanarama National League, and it was a wonder they were only two goals adrift at the end of one of the most uncomfortable halves they have had to endure this season. 

It was much more like it in the second half, with Regan Linney adding to his scoring tally with a trademark piece of opportunism just before the hour-mark, and how Southend negotiated stoppage time with their slender advantage still intact is anyone's guess.

First, Tylor Golden looked to have been upended inside the area and then, a couple of minutes later, Lewis Banks was incandescent after a clear foul from behind a couple of yards from goal also went unpunished.

Kian Taylor has returned to Preston North End after completing an impressive loan spell at The J.Davidson Stadium, but Alty haven't exactly been left short of options in midfield, with key players making a welcome return from injury.

Isaac Marriott started alongside Elliot Osborne in a tried-and-trusted engine room pairing, and there was a further significant boost for the Robins in the shape of George Wilson being deemed fit enough for a place on the bench after his recent lay-off.

Alty mounted the first meaningful attack of the game after five minutes when Marriott's cross was headed back across the edge of the six-yard box towards Justin Amaluzor, who just failed to reach it with the goal at his mercy.

The ball was immediately played back into the area by Jake Cooper, but Alex Newby's glancing header drifted narrowly wide.

The focus swiftly switched to the other end, and Alty had a fortunate escape in the ninth minute when the ball was rolled back to Keenan Appiah-Forson, who fired wastefully wide from an inviting position 15 yards out.

When a fierce drive from outside the area was deflected inches wide for a Southend corner, it proved only a temporary reprieve for the Robins.

The resulting corner was delivered deep to the far post, where James Golding beat Amaluzor in the air to head firmly past Rob Lainton.

The Robins were struggling to find anything like their normal fluency, and it typified an error-strewn passage of play when an Osborne pass was easily intercepted by Leon Parillon, who set up Macauley Bonne for a shot into the side netting.

Alty were living dangerously, and the home side again threatened a second goal in the 26th minute when Tom Hopper took a Parillon pass in his stride and hit an angled shot that Lainton blocked with his legs.

As Southend kept up the pressure, the Robins were indebted to Lainton on the half-hour when he reacted superbly with a full-length dive to his left to claw a first-time rocket by Gus Scott-Morriss away from the angle of bar and post.

It was becoming an exercise in getting to half-time without any further mishaps, but that went out of the window when Southend were gifted a second goal in the 39th minute.

Newby had just curled a 20-yard free-kick over the bar, and from the resulting goal-kick, Parillon was allowed to tee up Bonne for a close-range finish that gave Lainton no chance.

Southend had looked lively and dominated possession and chances, but it was a galling way for the Robins to slip further behind.

Linney had been a peripheral figure for much of the half, but he burst into life in the 40th minute with an effort that cannoned off the crossbar.

To say the least, it hadn't been the best of halves for Alty, but there were signs of greater urgency on the resumption, not least when Linney nearly reduced the arrears in the 50th minute.

Latching on to a through ball on the right, Linney held off a challenge as he powered his way into the area and made light of a nudge that could have resulted in a penalty as he chipped the advancing Nick Hayes, only for his effort to clip the keeper and loop on to the roof of the net.

Alty were back in business in the 59th minute with a classic Linney goal.

Newby picked him out with an expertly chipped through ball into his path, but, from then on, it was all about Linney's rare talent for scoring a goal out of nothing, as he cut in from the right and lashed an unstoppable rising left-foot shot into the the net.

It put a spring into Alty's step, and they threatened an equaliser in the 63rd minute when a right-wing corner was met by a Lewis Baines header that Hayes held under the bar.

The Robins kept pushing for parity, and what a chance they had to level matters in the 88th minute.

Substitute Jake Bickerstaff dispossessed a defender on the right and slipped the ball across to Linney, in space in a central position on the edge of the area.

A slightly heavy first touch did the Alty striker few favours, allowing the ball to slip away to the left of him, and it meant he was stretching when he connected with a shot that just cleared the bar.

Alty penalty appeals were waved away in the second of seven added minutes, when Golden went down under a challenge, and there was similar frustration for Alty three minutes later.

Banks chested the ball down a couple of yards out and looked certain to score until clearly being upended by a challenge from behind. It had to be a penalty, but the appeals were again denied by a referee who was presumably unsighted as he peered through a congested area. It's difficult to think of another reason for it not being given.

Southend Hayes; Scott-Morriss, Bonne (Waldron, 79'), Gubbins (Wind, 69'), Taylor (c), Golding, Chambers-Parillon (Walker, 81'), Hopper, Appiah-Forson, Morton, Kendall (Husin, 70'). Subs not used: Bridge, Jaakkola.

Altrincham Lainton; Banks, Baines (c), Cooper, Osborne (Reddin, 75'), Marriott (Wilson, 56'), Linney, Newby (Kosylo, 84'), Amaluzor (Bickerstaff, 75'), Crawford, Golden. Subs not used: Ansen, Nuttall, Pasiek. 

HT 2-0

Goals Golding 14', Bonne 38' | Linney 59'

Yellows Gubbins 44' | Amaluzor 29'

Reds None | None

Referee Andrew Humphries

Assistants Shaun Farrer & Robert Evans

Fourth official Zach Cunningham

Attendance 7,776 (101 away)

Next Up

We return to Rochdale on Tuesday (7:45pm) for our first Vanarama National League encounter of the season with our neighbours to the north of Manchester.

For full ticket and away travel details click here.