SOUTHEND men won for the first time in nine matches after beating Brentwood 5-3 in East League Division Two South.

A new formation, that saw an extra man drop back into defence, worked wonders, while at the other end, James Lockwood starred with four goals.

Lockwood’s four strikes were added to by James Beardwell, with the result boosting morale as they try to avoid relegation.

Southend seconds were walloped 9-1 by Brentwood seconds, despite taking an early lead.

A neat counter attack ended with Keith Arnold smashing home a short corner.

But Brentwood hit back twice just before half-time to go into the interval 2-1 up and disaster struck in the second-half when veteran Karl Druce picked up an injury leaving the team with just 10 players. Brentwood went on to score an unanswered seven goals.

The thirds were on the wrong end of a 10-1 score line against unbeaten league leaders Plashet.

Micky Walsh scored Southend’s only goal.

The fourths went down 5-0 against Wapping X to complete a tough set of fixtures for the men.

Southend ladies first team were 4-0 victors against Phoenix Ladies in the Essex Premier League – and they started like a house on fire.

From a short corner, Kate Harding hit from the top of the D for a straight effort which flew into the net.

Beth Gregory crossed for Hannah Richards to make it 2-0, although they needed goalkeeper Holly Smith to keep out the opponents after the interval.

Sarah Brooks and Gregory added second-half goals to complete the scoring. Player-of-the-match was Kath Dickinson.

The ladies seconds lost 2-1 at home against Waltham Forest thirds and it was another disappointing day for the thirds as they lost 3-0 against Crostyx.

Standout performances came from Liane Isles, Gail Swain and Angie Eastabrook.

Debutant Chelsea Sutcliff was treated by paramedics after being hit on the knee. Luckily there was no break and the ankle was just very badly bruised.