SOUTHEND Ladies continued their impressive recent run with a 1-1 draw with Braintree firsts.

Michaela Dowley was at the heart of Southend’s enterprise and she helped create one of the first openings, cutting in on the baseline and crossing the ball into a congested penalty spot although the danger was cleared.

Southend made the breakthrough when a penalty corner strike from Kate Harding deflected and Zoe Harker-Smith was the quickest to react - scoring her fourth goal of the season.

But the lead was short lived as, a few minutes later, the Blues gave away a short corner which Braintree slotted away with a strike from the top of the D.

The teams went into half-time all square and, in the second-half, the Blues struggled slightly although Sarah Brooks and Mel Taylor-Lamb came close.

A draw made it five games unbeaten as the player of the match award went to Kathryn Dickinson and Amanda Campbell.

The seconds were 2-1 winners against their Harlow counterparts.

Southend were the brighter early on and it wasn’t long before Jenny Sutton scored the opener.

Although Southend had the majority of possession, Harlow levelled from a short corner.

After a positive half-time talk, captain Charlotte Sturges scored the winner.

Southend’s men crushed Brentwood first 6-2 in an impressive afternoon’s work.

An early goal from Sam Philips put Southend ahead but it was 1-1 at the interval, but the second-half was one-way traffic.

Tommy Ing calmly scored from a short corner, and Southend stretched the lead to 5-1 lead with 10 minutes remaining. The other scorers were Jimmy Bobinson and Ben Aldridge, while Ing and Philips grabbed another each.

The seconds lost 4-3 to Havering, with Keith Arnold, Paul Harding, and James Preston on target.

The thirds lost 9-2 to Witham fourths and the fourths lost 5-2 to Wapping fifths.