SOUTHEND United coach Kevin Maher was full of praise for his under 21 side after they secured a 1-0 win against a strong Leyton Orient side this afternoon.

Shrimpers centre-back Dan Matsuzaka grabbed the only goal of the game at Brisbane Road.

And Maher felt Blues could well have won by more.

“I’m really pleased with the players and the performances they put in,” said the former Southend midfielder.

“It was a good experience for our young players to come and play at a first team stadium and to also test themselves against a strong Orient side.

“We started slowly for the opening 10 minutes or so as we got used to the new 5-3-2 system we were playing.

“But after that I felt as though we were on top and we could easily have scored a few more goals, especially in the first half.”

However, Blues were still able to come out on top thanks to a well taken header from Matsuzaka at the start of the second half.

Southend United: T Smith, Jordan Williams, Matsuzaka, Prosser, Adeyeye, Kyprianou, Norman, Gard (Johnson), Bridge, Williams, Cotton (Scott)

Subs not used: Salami & Bedford