THERE were plenty of fireworks off the pitch at Roots Hall on Saturday but very few on it as Southend United suffered an embarrassing exit at the hands of Conference club Chester.

For just the third time in their entire history, the Shrimpers were beaten at home by a non league club in the FA Cup.

But there can be very few complaints about Blues’ latest unexpected exit as they were deservedly seen off 2-1 by Steve Burr’s side.

The reverse also made it just one win in seven outings for Southend.

And this setback was easily the most disappointing of all them all.

Blues looked sluggish all over the pitch and especially in both boxes.

Defensively, the Shrimpers leaked another two goals and have now gone seven games without keeping a clean sheet.

Nine goals have been conceded during that time and both of the goals given away by Southend at the weekend were again quite sloppy.

The first came from a set piece delivery which Ben Heneghan headed home from close range.

And the second arrived when winger Craig Mahon was given far too much time and space to cut in from the right flank and fire home.

That ultimately proved to be the difference between the two teams and it was Chester who easily created more chances as Southend again struggled in attack.

Last weekend at Mansfield, the Shrimpers showed great signs of encouragement in the final third.

But against Chester it was back to the reoccurring theme of the season so far as Blues rarely threatened and created few goalscoring opportunities for their strikers.

The best one, of course, came from the penalty spot and was converted by Barry Corr for his 50th Shrimpers’ goal.

He became just the second Southend player to reach that landmark in the last 20 years and the achievement should not be forgotten about despite an otherwise dismal day.

The defeat meant Blues have been eliminated in the first round of every cup competition this term having previously suffered early exits in both the Capital One Cup and the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

It also still meant the Shrimpers have yet to come back and win a match they have trailed in this term.

A lack of urgency against Chester, especially late on, was another worry and some confusing substitutions did not help either.

David Worrall was arguably Blues’ most lively player going forward yet he was the first to make way on the hour mark.

The change was also jeered by large sections of the home support who are becoming increasingly concerned and frustrated by what is unfolding in front of them.

One concerned fan has even jokingly placed manager Phil Brown on e-bay in a bid to attract another club.

That may be slightly drastic but the frustration of the Roots Hall faithful is understandable too because it is a strong squad which has been assembled this season and it is one which should be performing far better than it currently is.

But the best formula, balance and starting line-up has yet to be discovered and that is now becoming something of a concern, 19 games in to the season.

Plenty of players of similar abilities are pushing for places all over the pitch but the side is not settled at this stage.

The best centre-back pairing has yet to be discovered and so too has the most effective midfield or a goalscoring strike-force.

Despite those difficulties, Blues will resume their League Two campaign sitting in a play-off position.

But improvements must be made if their top seven position is to be maintained for the remainder of the season.

This weekend’s clash with bottom of the table Hartlepool United has now taken on huge significance and so too has how the Shrimpers react to this setback.

Many more repeats of Saturday’s sub standard showing will see Southend start to slide out of contention.

And, with nothing else to play for now this season, that may not be tolerated by the supporters or the Roots Hall hierarchy.