SOUTHEND United endured a miserable end to the season, losing 1-0 to Morecambe at Roots Hall this afternoon.

Shrimps midfielder Andrew Fleming bagged the only goal of the game in the first half.

And that extended Morecambe’s unbeaten record against the Blues to six games.

However, Southend started strongly and had the chances to go ahead themselves.

The first of those opportunities came in the 17th minute of the match when Freddy Eastwood’s right wing free kick picked out Ryan Cresswell but his deflected close range header flew over the crossbar from close range.

The Shrimpers then went closer to taking the lead when Paul Smith’s long clearance was flicked on by Barry Corr in to the path of the recalled Gavin Tomlin.

The striker then cut inside on to his right foot but saw his curling 12 yard shot impressively kept out by Shrimpers shot-stopper Barry Roche.

But, with the home-side remaining on top, they wasted another golden chance to score in the 23rd minute when Kevan Hurst won the ball back inside the penalty area before teeing up Corr who fired over the crossbar from eight yards when he should have done better.

Moments later, Sean Clohessy’s right wing cross saw Morecambe defender Andy Parrish strike Corr with his attempted clearance and the ball rolled in to the path of Roche.

However, Blues were made to pay for their missed opportunities when Morecambe went ahead in the 34th minute, with Fleming on target.

The midfielder won the ball off Clohessy, when the Shrimpers’ full back tried to usher the ball out of play inside the penalty area, and made no mistake with an assured finish from close range.

Blues found it hard to create more chances after going behind and that led to boss Phil Brown making his first substitution of the game in the 57th minute with Britt Assombalonga coming on to replace Eastwood.

Nine minutes later, the Shrimpers made a second change with Mitchell Pinnock coming on to Tomlin but it was Morecambe who came close to scoring in the 73rd minute when a low 25 yard shot from Chris Holroyd was kept out down to his right hand side by Smith.

Blues’ third and final change came five minutes from time with Seedy Njie coming on for Corr but the home-side were unable to conjure up a late equaliser as their disappointing home form continued.