Oxford United vs Southend United. EFL Trophy Southern Area Quarter Final.
The Kassam StadiumAttendance2,415.
Tuesday 8 November 2011 22:45, UK
Southend eased into the Johnstone's Paint Trophy southern semi-finals with a 1-0 win at Oxford in a game which saw three red cards.
Oxford's stand-in goalkeeper Wayne Brown was dismissed just 12 minutes into his home debut. U's boss Chris Wilder rested first-choice 'keeper Ryan Clarke ahead of his team's big FA Cup tie at Sheffield United this weekend, and he must have regretted not having Clarke on the bench when Brown handled Sean Clohessy's ball forward outside his area. Midfielder Asa Hall took over in goal, but his first action was to pick the ball out of his net after being comprehensively beaten by the 20-yard free-kick that followed, superbly curled in by Ryan Hall. It was Hall's second spectacular effort in four days against Oxford having also netted on Saturday as Southend recorded a 2-1 league victory. With the home side down to 10 men, the Shrimpers dominated possession and Oxford's emergency keeper Hall was called upon to save Kane Ferdinand's header and block Ryan Leonard's drive with his foot. Nine minutes into the second half and it became nine versus 10 after Oxford substitute Tom Craddock and Southend's Anthony Grant were both shown red for fighting. Jon Franks twice went close to levelling for the U's, while Hall saved impressively from Hall near the end.
