Words John Edwards | Pictures Jonathan Moore

Southend 3 Altrincham 0

Altrincham's mini-revival under Neil Gibson ground to a disappointing halt after a below-par performance from the Robins at Roots Hall this afternoon.

Alty must have harboured high hopes of adding to the 10 points gleaned from four Enterprise National League games since Neil's arrival in an interim capacity, but, in truth, they were never in contention after going behind in only the ninth minute.

Promotion hopefuls Southend doubled their advantage soon after and made the most of a defensive error near the end to seal victory and further reinforce their bid for a return to the Football League.

To make matters worse, Alty found themselves down to 10 men for the closing stages after defender Dan Sassi was shown a second yellow card for a foul in the 86th minute.

Alty found themselves behind in the ninth minute after earlier keeping Southend at bay with a couple of timely interventions, notably a block by Elliot Osborne and tackle by Matty Kosylo.

The breakthrough came after the Robins failed to deal with a cutback from the right, and they were made to pay as Oli Coker seized on the loose ball and unleashed an unstoppable volley past Luke Hutchinson and into the far corner of the net.

After looking so solid under interim boss Neil, it came as a shock to see Alty conceding so early on, but they were soon looking to make amends at the other end, as Tom Crawford whipped in a dangerous cross towards Jake Cooper in the 13th minute.

The Alty defender connected first-time with a shot that was deflected behind for a corner, and though the flag-kick came to nothing, it was at least a sign of attacking intent from the visitors.

Any encouragement to be drawn from that didn't last long, however, as Southend doubled their lead in the 19th minute.

A cross from the right was headed out by Tylor Golden, but Nathan Ralph was on hand to crack a left-foot effort that flew through a ruck of players and into the net. It was close to Hutchinson as it crossed the line, but in fairness to the Alty keeper, he may well have been unsighted and had little time to react.

Kosylo scooped a left-foot shot over from the edge of the area in the 40th minute, but it was a rare attacking sortie by Alty in a half that had been something of an uphill struggle.

Indeed, the opening half almost finished as badly as it started, as Sam Austin hit a low left-foot drive in added time that beat Hutchinson's dive but was hooked off the line and to safety by Cooper.

There was another escape for the Robins early in the second half after a shot by Joe Gubbins appeared to hit Sassi's upper arm in the area from close range, and referee Harry Wager pointed to the spot.

Up stepped Gus Scott-Morriss, but Hutchinson responded brilliantly to deny him with a full-length dive to his left to turn the penalty away with an outstretched hand.

Lucas Weaver was part of a triple substitution by Alty in the 74th minute, and he almost made his first touch count as he hammered a shot that looked goalbound until cannoning into a defender and rebounding to safety.

An already disheartening afternoon for the Robins became even worse in a disastrous final five minutes.

First, Sassi was shown a second yellow card for scything down Harry Boyes right in front of the dug-outs in the 86th minute, and then Southend capitalised on a horror moment for substitute Sam Barnes to extend their lead just two minutes later.

The Alty centre-back seemed to have a cutback from the left under control, only to stand on the ball and gift substitute Josh Walker a simple finish from close range.

So, it ended in a first league defeat for Alty's interim manager, a heavy one, at that, and he will doubtless be looking for a positive response from his players when Scunthorpe United visit The J.Davidson Stadium next Saturday afternoon.

Southend Hayes; Scott-Morriss (Bridge, 85'), Ralph (c), Dallas (Walker, 67'), Austin (Appiah-Forson, 85'), Gubbins, Taylor, Miley (Morton, 88'), Spasov (Hopper, 76'), Coker, Boyes. Subs not used: Andeng Ndi, Parillon.

Altrincham Hutchinson; Baines (c), Cooper (Barnes, 84'), Osborne, Ward, Knowles (Gale, 74'), Kosylo (Weaver, 74'), Crawford (Marriott, 84'), Golden, Sassi, Kirk (Reddin, 74'). Subs not used: Hinchy, Beddow.

HT 2-0

Goals Coker 9', Ralph 19', Walker 86' | None

Yellows Gubbins 57', Dallas 67', Taylor 73' | Sassi 28', 86', Osborne 82'

Reds None | Sassi 86'

Referee Harry Wager

Assistants Andrew Hickman & Elliott Mayer

Fourth Official Morgan Conn

Attendance 7,883 (42 away)

Next Up

We entertain Scunthorpe United at The J.Davidson Stadium next Saturday (3pm) in the Enterprise National League.

General admission tickets on sale here BUT hospitality in the John King Lounge has been SOLD OUT for over a month.