SOUTHEND (A) PREVIEW BY STEVE HARRIS

TT PREVIEW

Steve Harris – @steveharris84

Steve Harris previews the game at Roots Hall

SOUTHEND UNITED vs TORQUAY UNITED

Venue: Roots Hall

Date: September 2nd, 2022

Kick-off: 3pm

CURRENT FORM

Southend: L, D, D, W, L, W

Torquay: D, W, L, L, L, L

HEAD TO HEAD

Southend: 39

Draw: 29

Torquay: 29

TOP SCORERS

Southend: Callum Powell (2)

Torquay: Brett McGavin/Ross Marshall (1)

SOUTHEND FACTFILE

Year founded: 1906

Nickname: The Shrimpers

Last season’s league finish: 13^th in National League

Notable honours:

Division Three/Division Two/League One:

Winners: 2005-06

Division Four/Division Three/League Two:

Winners: 1980-81

PRE-MATCH TALKING POINTS – Southend (a) by Dom Roman

MANAGER: KEVIN MAHER

Former Southend midfielder Kevin Maher returned to Roots Hall in October 2021, as the successor to Phil Brown and has helped to steer the Blues away from the foot of the National League table since his arrival.

A former Republic of Ireland Under-21 international, Maher spent a decade with Southend between 1998 and 2008, after joining on a free transfer from Tottenham Hotspur. During this time, he captained the Blues to back-to-back promotion from League Two to the Championship in 2004-05 and 2005-06.

Spells with Oldham Athletic, Gillingham and Dagenham & Redbridge followed before he began his coaching career with Chelmsford City in 2015. He then returned to Roots Hall to coach the Blues’ Under-21 and youth sides before he was appointed as Under-21 manager.

In 2019, he joined Bristol Rovers as first team coach and had two spells as caretaker manager of the Pirates prior to his appointment as Brown’s successor at Roots Hall.

PLAYER TO WATCH: DAN MOONEY

Capped by Wales at Under-19 and Under-21 levels, Dan Mooney joined the Shrimpers from Altrincham in the close season – after finishing the 2021-22 campaign as Alty’s top scorer with 13 goals in all competitions.

Mooney had originally joined Altrincham midway through their National League North promotion winning campaign of 2019-20 from Fleetwood Town. He had previously progressed through the youth academy of the Cod Army and had enjoyed loan spells with Chorley and Chester FC before he arrived at Moss Lane in February 2020.

MOONEY STATS:

Position: Right Midfield

Date of Birth: 3rd July, 1999 – 23 Years Old

Birthplace: Trafford

Height: 1.81m

International: Wales U21 (4 Caps/0 Goals)

Former Clubs: Fleetwood, Chester, Altrincham,

NL Stats 22-23: Played 5, Goals Scored 1, Yellow/Red 0/0

OLD BOYS

Southend: Rhys Murphy

Torquay: None

PREVIOUS HEAD TO HEAD

SOUTHEND UNITED 1-1 TORQUAY UNITED

15th May 2022

James Dunne scored his second goal of the season to ensure 10-man Southend ended the National League season with a point on the final day of the 2021-22 campaign against Torquay.

The visitors took the lead in added time at the end of the first half when Chiori Johnson charged down an attempted clearance before calmly dinking the ball over goalkeeper Steve Arnold.

Southend’s chances of mounting a comeback looked slim when captain Jason Demetriou was shown a straight red card in the 57th minute for a foul on Ben Wynter.

However, Harrison Neal struck the bar with a long-range effort before Dunne got the home side back on level terms in the 76th minute with a low shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.

The result means Southend ended the season 13th in the table, two places and eight points behind the Gulls, who finished in 11^th.