Shrimpers hit back in style

Southend bounced back from their 3-0 defeat to Swindon by beating Carlisle by the same scoreline.

Southend bounced back from their 3-0 midweek defeat to Swindon by beating Carlisle by the same scoreline. The Shrimpers took the lead in the 14th minute when Simon Francis' free-kick was not cleared, leaving Peter Clarke to slot home from three yards. Southend nearly doubled their advantage soon after, but Francis Laurent's shot hit the left post, while Jeff Smith registered the Cumbrians' first effort on target, but his shot from distance was easily held by Steve Mildenhall. Carlisle switched from a 4-5-1 to a 4-4-2 formation at half-time and became more of a threat. But the change saw the game stagnate as few chances were created. That all changed in the 70th minute when Damian Scannell netted his first goal for the Shrimpers. The winger latched on to a Theo Robinson pass and cut inside before firing the ball into the centre of the goal. Alan McCormack completed the win in the 80th minute when his attempted pass to Robinson came back off a defender and the midfielder rifled a shot into the bottom right-hand corner of the goal.