Southend foiled by floodlight failure
Liam Dickinson's seemed to have Southend cruising to victory against 10-man Aldershot at the EBB Stadium, before the game was abandoned at half-time following a floodlight failure.
Dickinson's well-struck spot-kick gave Paul Sturrock's side the lead after seven minutes when Ben Herd was harshly adjudged to have handled in the box.
But it was referee Gavin Ward who took centre stage for much of the half, denying the Shots two clear penalties and sending off defender Darren Jones for lashing out at Dickinson.
Shortly after the opener, Michael Rankine rounded visiting keeper Luke Daniels, who appeared to collide with the striker, only for Rankine to be booked for diving.
Jermaine McGlashan was then handed the same punishment after 27 minutes, despite Graham Coughlan seeming to clip the winger with an outstretched leg inside the box after the Shots man neatly cut in from the right past Luke Prosser.
With little goalmouth action to speak of the referee further enraged the home crowd by showing Jones red on 39 minutes after he reacted angrily to a heavy challenge by Dickinson, who was subsequently booked.
Chaos broke out after the break, with contradictory announcements over the restart after the lights failed, before the game was eventually called off.
Aldershot - Southend: Match Report - view commentary, squad, and statictics of the game as it happened.
Source: DSG
