SOUTHEND United made it three wins in a row after fighting back to beat Altrincham 2-1 at Roots Hall tonight.

The Robins took an early lead with Chris Conn-Clarke scoring his 17th goal of the season.

But Blues turned it around with Harry Cardwell and Wes Fonguck both on target before the break to secure all three points for Kevin Maher’s side.

The Shrimpers saw plenty of the ball in the first half but it was the visitor

s who went in front after just four minutes.

A poor pass from Cav Miley led to Altrincham launching a counter-attack which ended with Conn-Clarke cutting in from the left hand side and delivering a low shot which seemed to go under the body of Blues goalkeeper Collin Andeng Ndi on its way in.

The Shrimpers replied with Marcus Dackers heading Jack Bridge’s left wing cross wide of the right post before the visitors hit back with Elliot Osborne firing wide of the left post.

Moments later, Conn-Clarke sent a deflected effort wide of the right post after an impressive run forward before Blues drew back in the 39th minute, with Cardwell on target for the 14th time the season.

The striker reacted sharply after Dackers headed down a left wing cross from Bridge and scored his second goal in two games with a neatly taken effort from close range.

Blues stayed on top after the equaliser with Cardwell having a powerful effort pushed wide of the right post and Jason Demetriou firing over from long range.

Adam Crowther then also saw a well-struck shot pushed wide of the left post by Altrincham goalkeeper Matt Gould.

But the Shrimpers were not to be denied and took the lead on the stroke of half time with Fonguck scoring his third goal of the season.

The midfielder latched onto the ball in the left hand side of the penalty area and scored with a neatly controlled shot into the bottom right hand corner of the net.

Altrincham replied with Conn-Clarke curling a free-kick straight at Blues goalkeeper Collin Andeng Ndi before Newby fired wide of the left post from 20 yards at the start of the second half.

With play soon switching to the other end of the field, Cardwell fired inches wide of the left post before the visitors attempted to get back in the game by bringing on ex Blues midfielder Dan Mooney in place of Newby.

The Shrimpers responded with a double change in the 76th minute with Danny Waldron replacing Cardwell and Jack Wood coming on for Fonguck.

However, Altrincham soon started to pose more of a threat with Conn-Clarke curling a left wing corner against the top of the crossbar before the attacking midfielder sent a long range shot straight at Andeng Ndi in the closing action of a fourth successive defeat for Phil Parkinson’s side.