A DISASTROUS second half saw Southend United sink to a depressing 4-0 defeat at Northampton Town this afternoon.

An evenly contested and fairly uneventful first half ended goalless at the Sixfields Stadium.

But, just seconds after the break, Shrimpers goalkeeper Mark Oxley gifted John-Joe O’Toole’s the game’s opening goal before Blues defender Jason Demetriou was sent off for giving away a penalty converted by Alex Revell.

Goals from Matt Taylor and Paul Anderson added further misery for Phil Brown’s side who slipped down to 23rd in the League One standings.

Northampton – who were promoted from League Two last season - threatened first with Sam Hoskins sending a low shot straight at Oxley before Blues hit back with Stephen McLaughlin having a goalbound effort blocked after opting to delay his shot.

Moments later, Cobblers midfielder Taylor saw a swerving shot diverted wide of the right post by Oxley before his opposite number – Adam Smith – easily collected a low shot from Jermaine McGlashan in the closing action of the first half.

But the second period got off to the worst possible start for the Shrimpers as a shocking mistake from Oxley gifted Northampton the lead.

A tame effort from Jak McCourt should easily have been gathered by the shot-stopper but he somehow parried it out to enable former Blues loanee O’Toole to gleefully fire home the rebound from close range.

Five minutes later, things got even worse for Southend as the Cobblers doubled their lead, with another ex-Shrimper Revell firing home a penalty.

The spot kick was awarded after Demetriou was adjudged to have brought Anderson down in the box and the Cypriot international was also red carded for the challenge.

Revell added further punishment by sending the penalty into the bottom left hand corner of the net and Blues immediately responded by bringing on the fit-again Anthony Wordsworth in place of McLaughlin.

However, Northampton remained on top and made it 3-0 in the 59th minute when Matt Taylor curled a 25 yard free-kick high into the right hand side of the net.

Southend hit back by making a double substitution with saw Ryan Inniss and Simon Cox entering the action in place of Adam Barrett – who was making his 350th appearance for the club – and David Mooney.

But Northampton still pushed forward and extended their lead in the 78th minute when Anderson drilled home a low, left footed shot as the Shrimpers sunk to their second successive 4-0 defeat on the road.