SOUTHEND United’s under 21 team battled back to beat Leyton Orient 2-1 in a behind closed doors friendly this afternoon.

Blues were 1-0 down at the break before coming out on top in the second half thanks to an own goal and a winning strike from substitute Norman Wabo.

And Shrimpers’ under 21 coach Kevin Maher was happy with his team’s display.

“The boys did very well up against a more experienced side who had more first team players in their line-up,” said Maher.

“In the first half I thought we played well without really having enough end product.

“But that improved in the second half and won us the game in the end.

“I thought it was a deserved victory and it was good to see.

“It was a good competitive game, like it always is against Orient and we took a lot from it.

“There were plenty of positives and it’s also given us a lot to work on moving forward as well now.”

Despite Blues’ promising performance, Orient took the lead at Brisbane Road through an unfortunate own goal from Blues’ goalkeeper Josh Bexon who inadvertently deflected the ball into the net after an O’s attacker had seen his shot bounce back off the woodwork.

However, Southend equalised in the second half with another own goal which saw an Orient defender divert the ball past his own goalkeeper while under pressure from attacking midfielder Jack Bridge, who claimed he had the final touch.

Blues remained on top after drawing back level and bagged what proved to be the winning goal when substitute Wabo netted a well taken effort.

The 18-year-old striker - who replaced Nico Cotton midway through the second half - collected the ball on the right hand side following a neatly constructed counter-attack from the Shrimpers.

Wabo then strode forward and beat his man before firing an accurate low shot into the bottom left hand corner of the net.

Southend opted to field a complete under 21 side for the game with Bridge the only first team squad member to be involved.

Trialist midfielder Josh Taylor also lined up in the centre of the park.

Southend United: Bexon, Williams, Salami (Matsuzaka), Coutts, Kyprianou, Bedford, Taylor, Phillips, Bridge, Walker (Kinali), Cotton (Wabo)