HAVING grown up in the north-east of the country supporting Sunderland it was perhaps slightly ironic that Southend United manager Phil Brown was ultimately undone by a Jordy at Walsall on Saturday.

But it was the more the manner of the Saddlers' late winner which angered the Shrimpers chief.

Blues looked to have successfully withstood Walsall's pressure with Daniel Bentley in sensational form between the sticks.

However, just as Southend seemed to have secured a share of the spoils up popped Jordy Hiwula to head home Kieron Morris' right wing corner.

The 88th winner continued Southend's run of indifferent results - which has seen them win just three times in 13 games - but whether or not the ball actually crossed the line remains open for debate.

Television replays clearly show the ball landed on the line after bouncing back down from the underside of the crossbar but what happened next remains open to debate.

Yet, with such a high level of uncertainty it seems incredible that the assistant referee on the far side could be absolutely certain of making the right decision.

And the crucial call again strengthened claims for goal-line technology to be used outside the Premier League.

After all, football is now more lucrative than ever and, although the dubious decision will not decide Blues' destiny this season, the same cannot be said towards the top of the table.

For Hiwula's late winner moved third placed Walsall to within three points of Burton Albion, in the automatic promotion places, with a game in hand and could well result in them lining up against the likes of Aston Villa and Newcastle United next term.

And with millions of pounds at stake more should be done to ensure correct decisions can be made more regularly.

Of course, none of this would have been spoken about had the Shrimpers been able to cope with the corner in the first place.

But dealing with dead ball deliveries has been one of Blues' main problems this season and they have now conceded 22 goals from set pieces this term.

That equates to 40 per cent of the goals Southend have let in during the current campaign and has been responsible for them losing 11 points.

In simplistic terms, an inability to be able to defend set pieces has arguably been one of the main reasons between mid-table mediocrity and maintaining a push for the play-offs.

Only Bury have let in more goals from set pieces in the whole of League One this season and it is an ongoing problem which must be addressed if Blues are to progress next term.

Twelve goals have now been conceded from corners and the latest denied Bentley the clean sheet his outstanding display warranted.

In what was probably the best individual display from a Shrimpers player this season, Bentley pulled off a number of stunning saves to frustrate an impressive Walsall side.

The shot-stopper showed the talent which seems likely to see him playing at a higher level next term.

But he was still left frustrated as another recent and worrying trend continued for Blues.

Brown's side have now conceded in the final 11 minutes in five of their last nine games during a run of results which has also seen them drop into the bottom half of the table for the first time since September.

The Shrimpers will now be looking to rectify that situation during the final four matches of the season.

However, in truth there is now very little for Blues to play for except pride and maybe finding a way to stop conceding from set pieces.