ALL good things must come to an end – including Southend United’s lengthy unbeaten run.

The Shrimpers’ 13 match sequence without a league defeat was ended on Saturday as table-topping Sheffield United triumphed 4-2 at Roots Hall.

And there could be no denying the Blades fully deserved to triumph.

The eagerly anticipated encounter, between two of League One’s in-form teams, was always going to be an intriguing yardstick for the Shrimpers following their recent revival.

But the Blades dictated the opening exchanges and, after breaking the deadlock after just three minutes, seemed set for a comfortable victory – similar to the 3-0 win the Shrimpers secured at Bramall Lane back in August.

However, a superbly taken strike from Simon Cox – the 99th goal of his career – brought Blues back level and, for a 15 minute spell, the hosts began to dictate and dominate proceedings.

During the spell of pressure, Anthony Wordsworth, Will Atkinson and Cox were all denied by visiting goalkeeper Simon Moore.

But Blues’ foothold in the game was carelessly lost just before the break when shocking defending from a set piece enabled an unmarked Jack O’Connell to fire home a simple finish in what proved to be the game’s defining moment.

In the second half, the Shrimpers rarely threatened and Sheffield United showed just why they are currently top of the table with six successive victories.

Blades boss Chris Wilder spoke highly of Blues at the end of the game but, on this showing, Phil Brown’s side are still a little way off being able to consider themselves among the top teams at this level.

The Shrimpers will, of course, be determined to prove it was just a one off and will be keen to get their big players back on song.

Nile Ranger has been incredibly influential since his arrival at the start of the season but was off the pace at the weekend as he suffered his first defeat in the Blues starting line-up.

Ranger seemed to lose his man for the Blades’ first two goals and was below the high standards he has set since arriving at Roots Hall.

However, Ranger was not the only one to be below par as Anthony Wordsworth - who has arguably been the Shrimpers’ best player this season - was also unable to make much of an impression.

But, as was shown when they were missing at the start of the campaign, Blues rely heavily on their big guns and will need them back firing as soon as possible if they are to sustain a push for a top six finish.

A change of formation may not have helped their cause at the weekend and, given the Shrimpers’ fine run of results, it did seem slightly strange to alter the set up -whatever the strength of the opposition.

A diamond shaped midfield left Blues short of width and also led to their full-backs becoming exposed, especially Michael Timlin down the left hand side.

However, while the system may not have helped it may not have ultimately resulted in the defeat.

The Shrimpers switched back to 4-4-2 midway through the second half and paid the price for failing to deal with dead ball deliveries.

But one defeat in 14 games does not deserve too much criticism and most important of all is how Blues recover from the setback.

Saturday’s clash was the start of an incredibly tough run of fixtures as the Shrimpers face a number of top teams in quick succession.

The games will show Southend just where they rank among the league’s best teams and will go a long way in determining their destiny this season.

As a result, the players can certainly not afford to dwell too much on the defeat and will instead need to focus on what is now an even bigger game against Rochdale where Blues will be bidding to show they truly do deserve to be considered among the very best at this level.