A SECOND-HALF penalty from Renei Batlokwa handed Southend United’s under-23 side a hard fought 2-1 win against Leyton Orient this afternoon.

Batlokwa netted from the spot 20 minutes from time after a goal from Blues’ trialist Harrison Reeves had been cancelled out by O’s striker Ruel Sotiriou.

And Shrimpers coach Kevin Maher was full of praise for his young side after they recorded back to back wins.

“We've got a few lads in the first team squad for their game so it was a chance for one or two others to come in and stake a claim, which I thought they definitely did,” said Maher.

“We had two or three from the youth team and they acquitted themselves very well against an under-23 side which includes a lot of players who have played for their first team.

“But we managed the game well and we could have scored a few more towards the end with the chances we had.

“We should have made the last five minutes a bit easier than we did but we defended well to hang on and get the win.

“The boys all showed character and showed quality when they had to so I was pleased with how it went.”

Blues began brightly at their Boots & Laces training ground and opened the scoring after just eight minutes when impressive midfielder Reeves burst forward before netting with a low left footed shot from 20 yards which Orient goalkeeper Sam Sargeant could only push into the net.

The 18-year-old - who was most recently playing for Bristol City - then sent another effort from the edge of the penalty area over the crossbar before the O’s equalised on the hour mark when Sotirou swept home a right wing cross at the far post.

However, the Shrimpers regained the lead just 10 minutes later when Michael Clark was adjudged to have brought down his namesake Alex, enabling Batlokwa to fire his penalty into the bottom right hand corner of the net.

Batlokwa soon came close to scoring again when he fired inches wide of the right post before substitutes Norman Wabo and Harry Phillips also had opportunities to score late on as the home side pushed for a third goal to kill the game off.

Southend United: Seaden, Clifford, Curran, Matsuzaka, Cotton, Batlokwa (Humphreys), Reeves (Phillips), Pianim, Clark (Wabo), Bridge, Ba