A TALE of conflicting clashes against former clubs resulted in Southend United seeing off Walsall 2-0 on Saturday.

Ex Shrimpers striker Michael Ricketts was sent off for the visitors on his return to Roots Hall after just 14 minutes.

And it was an ex Saddler –Kevin Betsy – who took full advantage as he celebrated a more successful reunion by firing the home side into the lead.

Theo Robinson went on to score a second goal and that made sure of a sixth win in eight games for Steve Tilson’s side.

They started strongly too and, after just two minutes, Robinson sent a tame 20 yard shot straight at Walsall keeper Clayton Ince before the striker fired over from an awkward angle.

The visitors survived the early scares but were soon reduced to 10 men when Ricketts was shown a straight red card by referee Rob Styles after he stupidly lashed out at McCormack.

It was the forward's third dismissal of the season and, after he trudged off, Lee Barnard tested Ince with a curling shot from 20 yards.

The Seasiders continued to try and make the most of their extra man and, with 18 minutes on the clock, they almost did when Robinson's right wing cross was met by the head of Franck Moussa whose effort was impressively tipped onto the top off the crossbar by Ince.

But Walsall hit back and soon wasted a great chance of their own to open the scoring as Sofienne Zaaboub's attempted shot rolled into the path of Troy Deeney and he slashed his 16 yard shot effort over the South Stand goal with just Shrimpers goalkeeper Steve Mildenhall left to beat.

Stephen Hughes then sent a long range shot wide of the right post and Southend were finding it hard to break through the Walsall defence.

Subsequently, no clear cut chances were created during the remainder of the half and the closest the Shrimpers came to scoring was a 20 yard shot from Moussa which flew wide of the right post just before the half-time break.

During that interval, Francis Laurent came on for Osei Sankofa in a positive swap which saw the Shrimpers switch to a 3-4-3 formation.

The early signs were promising with Moussa heading a right wing cross from Kevin Betsy onto the roof of the net and, in the 50th minute, Blues broke the deadlock as Robinson volleyed the ball into the path of Betsy on the right hand side.

He advanced to the edge of the area and unleashed a low, right foot shot which flew into the bottom left hand corner of the net, past the outstretched arm of Ince.

A tame header from Laurent was then easily saved by the Walsall keeper and, on the hour mark, the Frenchman nodded a right wing cross from Betsy wide of the left post Southend continued to push forward and only a superb last ditch block by Chris Palmer stopped Robinson converting a deep centre from McCormack.

But Robinson was not to be denied and, in the 72nd minute, he worked his way onto the score-sheet as the on loan striker raced onto Dorian Dervite's through ball and clinically fired home from 12 yards.

McCormack then had a snap shot tipped around the left post by Ince before Blues boss Tilson reverted back to a 4-4-2 formation with Simon Francis coming on for Lee Barnard.

Despite the more defensive line-up, Southend were still on top with Ince blocking a low effort from Robinson with his legs and, four minutes from time, the striker curled another effort just past the right post.

By then however, the damage had been done and the Shrimpers overtook their visitors to surge into the top half of the table for the first time since Boxing Day.