MIDWAY through the second half at Morecambe on Saturday, a beach ball thrown onto the pitch by a Southend United supporter was stamped on and burst by Shrimps winger Kevin Ellison.

And that one moment was pretty much indicative of Blues’ day as any hopes of a momentous, memorable afternoon securing and celebrating automatic promotion were abruptly ended by a Morecambe side who fully deserved the 3-1 victory.

The Shrimpers were nowhere near their best when it mattered the most and just two or three of the players played anywhere near their true capabilities as they were condemned to the end of the season play-offs.

Right now, such a scenario is exceptionally tough to take for anyone connected to the club.

Throughout the past few weeks, Blues had gathered real momentum, securing seven successive victories without conceding a goal to surge up into third place for the first time this season.

With so many breaks going their way during that run, including a fortuitous late winner for Michael Timlin last time out against Luton Town, it finally appeared as though the Shrimpers were finally ready to work their way out of the basement division.

Adding to that hope and expectation, an absolutely outstanding 2,223 Southend supporters made the 562 mile round trip.

But Morecambe had clearly not read the script and pooped any possible promotion party by continuing their remarkable record against Blues.

Jim Bentley’s side have now not lost any of the 10 league meetings between the two teams and, apart from a short period at the start of the second half, Blues never really looked like ending that hoodoo.

For Morecambe were on top for the majority of the match and were able to find and exploit space both in behind Southend’s midfield and down their right hand side where they looked particularly dangerous.

As to why that happened at the weekend, several fans have pointed the finger at a slight change of tactics with Jack Payne being brought into the team in attack.

But for me, Payne was Blues’ best player and provided the biggest threat in the final third of the pitch.

The youngster bagged the Shrimpers goal and also saw another couple of efforts pushed to safety by Morecambe goalkeeper Andreas Arestidou.

Barry Corr was also twice denied by the shot-stopper while Kevan Hurst also missed a glorious opportunity against his former side, meaning there was certainly not a lack of attacking intent from Blues.

Phil Brown’s side also registered more shots on target than in any of their previous three away trips which had all ended in victory.

And it could actually be argued that Southend attacked too much, too soon, allowing Morecambe the time and space to carve open what had previously been a rock solid defence.

However, whatever the reasons behind the defeat, it was exceptionally tough to take and Blues’ dejected players sunk to their knees in desperate disappointment.

The Shrimpers supporters also trudged away from the Globe Arena in a dejected, subdued fashion and it is now going to be incredibly difficult to raise spirits for the play-offs in such a short space of time.

But somehow or other that is exactly what needs to be done and there is still plenty for Blues to be proud of.

Their final tally of 84 points was their second highest in 33 years since the Football League introduced three points for a win and it would also have been enough to secure promotion from the basement division 19 times in the past 20 seasons.

That, perhaps more than anything else, shows how well the Shrimpers have performed this season.

But they now face by far their biggest test in recent times as the players must quickly forget all about their Morecambe misery in order to avoid more heart-break in the play-offs.