SOUTHEND Saxons surged out of the National Three London & SE relegation zone with a 45-12 win against Sutton & Epsom.

First team coach Danny Cleare led by example as he scored a trio of tries to help Southend secure a third successive victory.

And Cleare was happy to see Saxons continue their recent revival as they bid to beat the drop.

“The game at the weekend was really pleasing and we pretty much put it to bed after 20 minutes,” said the full-back.

“We played with real intensity and accuracy and scored some excellent tries.

“Our defence was also pleasing but the only real area we let ourselves down in was our discipline.

“There were many soft penalties at the breakdown or from creeping offside.

“For myself personally it was obviously pleasing to get a hat-trick, especially as I haven’t had one for a few years.

“But the main thing was to get five points and put in a good performance and we did that.

“Confidence is at an all time high at the moment.”

The victory, which was Southend’s fifth in six games, saw them move up to 11th in the table, two points clear of Chichester who now occupy the final relegation place.

And Cleare believes moving out of the bottom three will significantly boost his side.

“It is important to be out of the bottom three as survival is now effectively in our hands,” said Cleare.

“It also puts extra pressure on Chichester but we also know we have the harder run in and probably still need two wins from our remaining three matches.”

Southend, who suffered a 10 point deduction earlier on this season for failing to control their supporters in a game against Colchester, face three of the top four in their remaining matches.

But Cleare insists the Saxons will be heading into the crunch clashes in good spirits.

“Confidence is high and if you look at the league, we’ve won more games than the top seven teams - we just haven’t been getting bonus points and the 10 point deduction obviously hasn’t helped either,” said Cleare.

“But realistically we don’t see ourselves as a bottom three team so we feel we can pick off some of the top teams in this league. So although we know we have a tough run in, it’s not something we are scared of and we fully intend to embrace the challenge.”

And fellow try scorer Norbertas Radzevicius, who touched down twice, is also looking forward to the remaining matches.

“We’re on a high at the moment so although the games will be tough we’re feeling good going into them,” he said.

“The last few weeks have gone really well and we want to keep it going now.”

Southend: Cleare, Radzevicius, Ngaluafe, Vaughan, O’Brien, Burr, Gould, Strachan, Bloomberg, Bailey, Smith, Court-Rhind, Fombo, Shields, Kellard