Southend United vs Accrington Stanley. Sky Bet League One.
Roots HallAttendance6,286.
Saturday 15 December 2018 20:38, UK
Southend won the battle of League One's most out-of-form teams, beating Accrington 3-0 at Roots Hall.
Stanley headed into the clash bottom of the form table for the last six games with the Shrimpers immediately above them.
But the visitors began brightly with Billy Kee, Sam Finley and Offrande Zanzala all wasting chances to score.
However, Southend fought back to break the deadlock in the 19th minute, with skipper Sam Mantom firing home the rebound after Simon Cox had seen his shot pushed out by Stanley goalkeeper Connor Ripley.
Southend doubled their lead in the 23rd minute when Stephen Hendrie's shot was parried by Ripley and Taylor Moore's follow-up effort was diverted into the back of the net by Cox for his ninth goal of the season.
The Shrimpers then wrapped up their win in the 72nd minute, with Cox playing in the recalled Theo Robinson who beat Ripley with an assured finish from the edge of the penalty area.
