Goals from Beckles, Cummings, Norburn and Lang give Town the 3 points in end to end game
Shrewsbury Town: Max O’Leary, Ro-Shaun Williams, Omar Beckles, Ollie Norburn (c) (Dave Edwards 71), Callum Lang (Daniel Udoh 84), Ryan Giles, Donald Love, Sean Goss, Ethan Ebanks-Landell, Josh Laurent, Jason Cummings (Shaun Whalley 55)
Subs: Joe Murphy, Aaron Pierre, Brad Walker, Steve Morison
Southend United: Mark Oxley, Elvis Bwomono, Nathan Ralph (Jason Demetriou 71), Stephen Humphrys, Simon Cox, Stephen McLaughlin, Brandon Goodship, Rob Kiernan, Ethan Hamilton (Luke Hyam 63), Sam Mantom (c), Harry Lennon
Subs: Nathan Bishop, Layton Ndukwu, Joe Shaughnessy, Issac Hutchinson, Andre Blackman
Referee: James Adcock,
Assistant Referee: Shaun Hudson and Akil Howson,
Fourth Official: Robert Merchant
Sam Ricketts made two changes from the side that picked up a point on the road at AFC Wimbledon, in came Jason Cummings for his first Town start and Omar Beckles returns while Aaron Pierre drops down the bench.
Town had a chance right from the start when Goss played a ball wide for Giles, the defender cut it out but Giles nicked the ball and then drove in on goal, he shot but it was deflected for a corner.
Town were looking sharp upfront and were moving the ball around quickly to create space and chances. Goss was pulling the strings as normal and he threaded a lovely ball to find Norburn on the edge of the box, he tried a deft flick to put Lang in on goal but a last-minute Southend foot just nicked the ball away.
There was a decent opening for Cummings on 14 minutes after patient build-up play from Town, Goss threaded a ball to find Cummings on the edge of the box, he took a touch, turned and fired in a low shot that Oxley managed to get down to block.
Town’s pressure paid off in the 18th minute when Omar Beckles got his first goal of the season, it came from good work from Callum Lang who won the ball back, it came to Ethan Ebanks-Landell who fired a low ball across goal and there was Beckles to turn the ball home from close range.
The chances were coming from Town who were putting in a really patient display, the ball was played back to the centre-backs and play was building from there. A ball back across the defence came to Ebanks-Landell, he clipped a lovely ball into the run of Norburn, he stretched a foot out o take the ball down but a defender came across to clear.
The chances were still dropping to Town and the whole squad seemed to be trying to get on the score sheet, the ball found Giles out on the left, he came infield and fired in a lovely low shot that beat the dive of Oxley but the post was there to deny Town.
It was 2-0 to Town on 26 minutes and it was a second goal in two games for Jason Cummings, good build-up play from Town found Cummings with the ball on the edge of the box, he curled in a lovely shot that hit the inside of the post and went in.
Southend were still pushing and on 28 minutes they grabbed a goal back, they built down he right and a ball crossed to the back post found McLaughlin rise above Love and head the ball back across goal above the dive of O’Leary and into the back of the net.
The first booking of the game went to Town, after a misplaced pass gave the ball back to Southend they looked to break quickly, a ball over the defence was meant for Cox but a tug on his shirt from Goss saw the Town pick-up a yellow card.
Half-time: 2-1
It was an open first 10 minutes with both sides looking to attack and create chances. Town were digging in deep at the back to contain a number of good looking attacks from the visitors, while at the other end Lang and Cummings were causing a lot of problems for the opposition.
Sam Ricketts made his first change of the evening on 55 minutes with Shaun Whalley coming on to replace Jason Cummings, who had put in a performance of non-stop running and effort throughout the game.
Town had a good chance from a Sean Goss free-kick, he got it up and over the wall but Oxley was equal to it with a great diving save, Lang was quick to follow up and fired in a low shot but again Oxley was there to deny Town.
Town grabbed a lovely third goal on 60 minutes, it came after Shaun Whalley picked the ball up just inside the Southend half, he drove forward and kept going, riding challenges and tackles and burst into the box, he then cut it back to Norburn on the edge of the box and he hit a lovely low shot that beat Oxley, hit the inside of the post and in to the net to make it 3-1.
The chances were falling to Town and when a free-kick was curled into the box Beckles got in front of the defence, he looked to get the header in but Oxley was out big and strong and did enough to take the ball off Omar.
On 70 minutes Sam Ricketts made his next change, bringing on Dave Edwards on to replace Ollie Norburn who left the pitch to a standing ovation.
Southend grabbed a second goal back after a great counter-attack on 76 minutes, they broke with pace downfield and took the game to Town, the home side looked to have enough to deal with it but a ball pulled back to Humphrys on the edge of the box saw him cut a low shot past O’Leary to make it 3-2.
Town grabbed a fourth goal in what was a topsy turvey game, it came from a slip from Ralph who was put under pressure from Laurent, he nicked the ball away and then played it into the box to set-up up Lang and he made no mistakes stroking the ball past Oxley to make it 4-2.
Sam Ricketts made his final change of the evening bringing on Daniel Lang to replace Callum Lang, who left the field to a standing ovation.
Southend grabbed another goal back just as the board was being held up to show extra time, it came from Simon Cox who fired in a good effort from 25 yards out that beat O’Leary to make it 4-3 with minutes remaining
Full-time: 4-3