REPORT | Southend United 1-1 Wealdstone

Despite letting slip a one-goal advantage at the death, Wealdstone left Roots Hall Stadium with a valuable point on the road.

An early goal from top goalscorer Sean Adarkwa was cancelled out by a late finish from substitute Henry Sandat.

Manager David Noble made two changes to the side that defeated York City on Saturday, with Brandon Mason slotting in for the unavailable Jaydn Mundle-Smith and new signing Dillon De Silva making his debut.

Southend United registered their first sight of goal within three minutes of play when Marcus Dackers squared to Danny Waldron and he unleashed a fierce strike that flew just over the post.

However, the Stones responded perfectly, taking the lead on the 5th minute mark as Max Kretzschmar dinked the ball to Adarkwa and the talisman slotted home past Collin Andeng Ndi from close range to notch his 10th goal of the season.

Galvanised by the goal, the Stones looked to extend their lead in the 20th minute when the lively Tarryn Allarakhia drilled a dangerous ball into the box, but Andeng Ndi reacted with a solid save.

At the opposing end, the Shrimpers were agonisingly close to equalising on the half hour mark when Jason Demetriou slid through Waldron, who chipped the ball over Marcus Dewhurst, but skipper Jack Cook responded with a superb goal line clearance.

With seven minutes of the first-half remaining, hot-shot Allarakhia nearly scored a sublime goal, picking the ball up from the half-way line, surging forward past two Shrimpers defenders and shooting from an acute angle, only to be thwarted by Andeng Ndi.

Moments later, the hosts came close to levelling when Noor Husin spotted the Wealdstone goalkeeper off of his line and attempted to lob Dewhurst, however the Stones shot-stopper back-peddled and produced a finger-tip save to deny the midfielder.

As the first-half progressed into added time, the Stones had two chances to bolster their advantage going into the interval, but Adarkwa and De Silva were both just off target with their respective strikes.

Southend United returned from the break with added gusto as they looked to restore parity early in the second-half; Waldron connected with Jack Bridge’s cross, but Wealdstone managed to clear the ball off of the line.

Five minutes later, Waldron was presented with another opportunity to draw his team level; however he could only direct his free-header over the crossbar from 8-yards.

In the 61st minute, substitute Nathan Ferguson almost made an immediate impact against his former club, surging into the area and firing just over the crossbar.

As the match entered the final ten minutes, the Shrimpers had another opportunity to equalise but Sandat header over from close range.

However, on the stroke of regulation time, Sandat atoned for his previous miss, converting home Bridge’s cross past Dewhurst to rescue a point for Kevin Maher’s men.

Wealdstone return to action this Saturday 9th March when they host Solihull Moors at The Vale in the Quarter Final of the FA Trophy, in a 3pm kick-off.

WEALDSTONE: Dewhurst, Barrett, Cook (c), Barker, Mason, Dyer, Bowen, Kretzschmar (Henry 65), De Silva (Ferguson 61), Allarakhia, Adarkwa (Andrews 67).

Subs not used: Seaman, Cesay.

Attendance: 6,399 (including 78 Wealdstone supporters)

Report by Nicole Cho-Yee