Crewe Alexandra's poor start to the new season continued with another defeat on the road. The Railwaymen huffed and puffed all afternoon and in spells passed the ball around with more purpose and adventure, but still we didn't create nearly enough chances to really trouble Southend. And at the back, we continued to ship avoidable goals which make coming back in matches awfully difficult.

The home side took a 16^th minute lead through a wonderful shot from Nicky Bailey from the edge of the Crewe penalty area. They doubled their advantage just minutes after the hour mark, with Gary Hooper in the right place at the right time to guide a rebound into the bottom corner.

Our misery was completed with Leon Clarke smashing home a late penalty after Ben Williams had been penalised for pushing Gary Hooper out of the way to get hold of possession. It about summed up our afternoon because the referee hadn't awarded us a penalty for a more blatant offence inside the Southend box during the first half.

The match may have been more of a contest if a Julien Baudet headed goal had not been chalked off for offside, and the referee had rightly awarded a spot-kick for an obvious foul on Gary Roberts by Steven Hammell. The Southend player had quite clearly applied a firm grip on the Alex midfielder as he attempted to make strides inside a crowded penalty. Officials do not seem to be giving penalties for these offences.

First team coach Steve Holland was forced into a change to his starting line-up after Steven Schumacher picked up a slight hamstring in the final training session of the week. Club captain Neil Cox returned to the starting line-up, since losing his place following the defeat at Doncaster Rovers. There was an alteration in formation and tactics too, with Crewe Alexandra operating in a more attack-minded 4-4-2 with Byron Moore and Ryan Lowe supportive of Barnard.

Julien Baudet was also back in the starting line-up after returning from a problematic calf strain. Daniel O'Donnell was the unfortunate one to drop out of the starting eleven.

On his return to action Barnard was cautioned within three minutes after a catching centre half Peter Clarke with a late tackle, as the defender cleared the ball up field. With the game delayed and the referee eager to speak to his assistant, there was a brief moment when it looked as though it could have been a lot worse than a yellow card. Thankfully, the referee kept his red card firmly in his pocket.

Ben Williams was then called into action to smother a chance at the feet of Gary Hooper after Leon Clarke had played a clever little ball over the top. The Alex keeper read the situation and advanced from his line in good time.

The home side took the lead on 16 minutes with Bailey curling home his shot from the edge of the box into the top corner. A flowing move from a throw-in saw Clarke and Gary Hooper both involved across the Alex penalty area. Bailey evaded the sprawling challenge of Ben Rix, before accurately placing his shot beyond the dive of Williams. Before the opening goal there had not been a real effort on goal from either side.

Crewe Alexandra's nearly responded immediately, with the advanced Julien Baudet guiding home a Ryan Lowe free-kick. The away camp thought we had instantly drawn level, but the Assistant referee had had his flag raised to rule it out. It will certainly be worth viewing again on the DVD because Baudet had appeared to emerge from within a crowd of players. In conceding the foul, Southend's captain Adam Barrett joined Barnard in the book.

Just before the half an hour mark, the in-from Leon Clarke then missed a decent chance. Bailey played Mark Gower down the Crewe right and his pull back missed out Baudet before landing at the feet of the on-loan striker, but uncharacteristically he scuffed his shot.

Then at the other end, Gary Roberts was adamant that he should have had a penalty kick after he was wrestled to the floor in the box. Referee Penn wasn't interested but Steven Hammell's challenge would have better suited in tonight's semi-final showdown in Paris! The referee was allowing a lot of physical challenges pass without comment. It certainly looked a penalty from the press box.

Williams was called upon again to deny a deflected shot from Tommy Black. His shot zipped off in a wayward direction and Williams did exceeding well to get a firm hand on it, but Hooper should have finished off the rebound. Instead the Southend striker leaned back and sent it horribly over the bar.

Both sides were neat and tidy at times, and at others we were both guilt of conceding possession far too cheaply. Both sides were being wasteful with their passing, especially in midfield and it led to a lull in the match as a spectacle.

With the half during to a close, Crewe produced their best flowing move of the half, which resulted in Ryan Lowe feeding Barnard in the box, but after getting the ball out of his feet his shot was deflected behind for a corner. There was enough time for Black to fire a late shot into the side netting after a cross from Hammell evaded everyone inside a crowded penalty area.

The second half began with the home side asking questions of the referee and his assistant after Tommy Black had gone down under a sliding tackle from the covering Billy Jones. The referee was of the view that Jones had made a substantial connection with the ball and waved away the appeal. To be fair Black did not protest too much. Moments later Mark Gower dragged his shot wide of Ben Williams' goal, as the home side pushed forward looking for a second goal. Baudet then retreated to stop Hooper in his tracks.

At the other end, Crewe did have a couple of promising breaks but both Lowe and Barnard were rather isolated and couldn't really make anything of their advanced position.

A downward header from defender Peter Clarke bounced just wide after Hammell had picked him out at a corner. It would have taken something special to have generated enough power on it to really test Ben Williams from there though.

Barnard did latch onto a superb searching pass from Byron Moore to head against a Southend post but again the assistant had his flag raised.

Just after the hour mark, Crewe gave themselves an almighty mountain to climb when conceding a second goal at a sunny Roots Hall. Ben Williams could only parry a firm shot from Leon Clarke and this time Hooper kept his composure to slot home the rebound from close range. It was a killer blow for Crewe because we didn't look like scoring one goal let alone two.

In an attempt to get back into the game, Holland introduced the more physical Tom Pope for Roberts. With Pope moving up front to partner Barnard, Byron Moore shifted to the left wing.

On 77 minutes, Julien Baudet also made way for O'Donnell in what is hoped is not a reoccurrence of his calf injury.Throughout the afternoon, Crewe's efforts on goal were extremely limited. Ben Rix sent a difficult shot to execute sailing over Steve Collis crossbar. Pope also did something similar late on in the game.

With eight minutes remaining, Southend sealed the victory following a rather bizarre incident. Billy Jones headed the ball back off the by-line toward goalkeeper Williams and Daniel O'Donnell but Hooper made a nuisance of himself and Williams was adjudged to have pushed over the Southend forward in trying to rectify the situation. The inconsistent referee pointed to the spot and Rix was booked for protesting. Leon Clarke stepped up to smash home his sixth goal in seven games and Crewe were dead and buried.