BEN Coker went from hero to villain as Southend United were held to a 1-1 draw at Bury this afternoon.

Coker, who was to blame for Scunthorpe’s winning goal at Roots Hall last Friday, seemed to have atoned for that error when he curled home a fantastic free-kick in the 23rd minute.

But the full-back was then sent off just three minutes from time after being shown a second yellow card by referee Eddie Ilderton.

And the Shakers took full advantage of their extra man by equalising in stoppage time when Anton Forrester heading home a right wing free-kick from Craig Jones.

Before the late drama, Bury began brightly and forced five corners inside the opening 10 minutes.

But the closest the Shakers came to scoring during that time came when Tom Soares unleashed a well struck 20 yard shot which did Daniel Bentley did well to tip around the left post.

The Shrimpers soon hit back with skipper John White unleashing a low shot from the edge of the penalty area which was blocked in front of goal by his fellow defender Mark Phillips.

In reply, Bury midfielder Tommy Miller had a low effort blocked by Will Atkinson before Blues began to get in to the game.

With 20 minutes on the clock, Phillips’ six yard header from Ryan Leonard’s right wing cross was superbly saved low down to his right hand side by Bury goalkeeper Trevor Carson.

But Southend were not to be denied for long as they opened the scoring just three minutes later, with Coker scoring a fantastic free-kick.

The defender, who had previously never netted in the Football League, curled a 20 yard shot to the right hand side of the penalty area high in to the top left hand corner of the net.

Moments later, Blues could have doubled their lead when Anthony Straker dispossessed Shakers right-back Shaun Beeley and delivered a left wing cross in to the path of an unmarked Freddy Eastwood.

But, after controlling the ball, Eastwood saw his shot turned around the right post by the advancing Carson.

The Shakers shot-stopper then easily smothered a low, long range shot from Barry Corr meaning the Shrimpers remained 1-0 up at the half-time break.

During that interval, Bury boss Kevin Blackwell made a double substitution with former Blues loanee Danny Mayor coming on for Shaun Harrad and Jessy Reindorf for Tom Soares.

However, it was Blues who continued to attack at the start of the second half with Kevan Hurst sending a close range volley inches over the crossbar after being teed up by Straker’s deep, left wing cross.

After that, both sides struggled to create clear cut chances but Blues were forced to play the final three minutes with 10 men after Coker was dismissed for a second yellow card.

The defender picked up his first caution for a foul on Jones was then dismissed for kicking the ball away.

And, after his dismissal, Bury made sure of a point when the Shrimpers again conceded from a set piece with Forrester heading home Jones’ right-wing free-kick.