SOUTHEND United fought back to secure a 2-1 triumph at Portsmouth this afternoon.

The Shrimpers went behind midway through the first half when an Adam Thompson own goal put the home-side in front.

However, goals from Ryan Leonard and Joe Pigott secured Blues all three points, despite substitute Barry Corr being sent off in the last minute.

Portsmouth also had Paul McCallum dismissed in stoppage time.

But, before the late drama unfolded, Andy Barcham caused the Shrimpers problems in the opening exchanges and fired a low 20 yard shot straight at Daniel Bentley after just two minutes.

The home-side continued to attack and again came close to opening the scoring when a close range effort from Jed Wallace was instinctively parried to safety by Bentley.

However, with 24 minutes on the clock, Portsmouth took the lead when Craig Westcarr’s right-wing free-kick picked out Adam Webster at the far post.

The defender’s header was pushed out by Bentley before the ball appeared to rebound off Shrimpers centre-back Thompson before hitting the back of the net via the underside of the crossbar.

But Blues were behind for just five minutes as Leonard soon levelled the scores, thanks to an excellent assist from David Worrall.

The winger impressively headed the ball back across the penalty area, enabling Leonard to chest it in to the bottom right hand corner of the net from eight yards.

The Shrimpers soon almost went in front when a well struck, 25 yard shot was tipped wide of the left post in unconvincing fashion by Portsmouth goalkeeper Paul Jones.

Worrall then almost put Blues in front but his scuffed close range effort on the slide was pushed out by Jones to ensure the game remained all square at half-time.

After the break, the second half was slow to get going and goalscoring chances initially remained few and far between.

As a result, Blues opted to make their first change of the game in the 69th minute with Corr coming on to replace Jake Cassidy.

And, just two minutes later, the Shrimpers took the lead following an excellent move down the right hand side, which saw Worral impressively bring ball down an accurate ball forward from John White.

Worrall then teed Pigott and his deflected 16 yard shot nestled in the back of the net.

Portsmouth immediately upped their game in pursuit of an equaliser with Bentley doing well to push out a close range header from Paul Robinson.

Moments later, Bentley again excelled himself to brilliantly push a low, 20 yard shot from Danny Hollands around the right post before he also tipped over another well struck from Hollands in Portsmouth’s very next attack.

After surviving the scares, Blues boss Phil Brown opted to bring on both by Myles Weston and Jack Payne with Pigott and Will Atkinson making way.

But the Shrimpers soon suffered a blow when the first of their substitutes, Barry Corr, was dismissed after being shown a second yellow card.

The Irishman received his first caution for kicking the ball away and was then ordered off by referee Lee Collins after a foul on Danny Hollands.

The red card was Blues’ fourth in their last five games but the numerical disadvantage did not last long as Portsmouth substitute Paul McCallum was shown a straight red card for violent conduct in the closing stages.