SOUTHEND United manager Mark Molesley felt his side delivered a delayed Christmas present to the club's supporters with victory in this afternoon's Essex derby at Roots Hall.

First half goals from Simeon Akinola and Timothee Dieng saw the Shrimpers beat Colchester United 2-0.

And Molesley dedicated the victory to the Blues fans watching from home.

"The message before the game was to deliver a Christmas present for our fans and we did just that," said Molesley.

"It’s tough times out there at the moment and we’ve sorely missed them being here again.

"But we knew they would be watching and we wanted to give them something to cheer about."

Blues made sure of the win, which moved them off the foot of the League Two table, with a strong first half showing.

And Molesley felt the Shrimpers' work-rate proved key. 

"We showed we were willing to die out there for those three points today, said Molesley, whose side have now gone five games without defeat.

"The attitude, work rate and endeavour was second to none which it needs to be in a derby.

"Colchester are a really good side and they’re well drilled so we knew it was always going to be a tough game.

"We would really have covered some ground out there and you can see the group are growing in confidence and belief too.

"But we haven’t done anything yet.

"We’ve shown we’re up for the fight and we’ve got potential but we’ve got to keep on repeating this now."

Blues will now be looking to build on the win against Leyton Orient on Tuesday.

But Molesley is not getting carried away by the recent upturn in results.

"We’re starting to get more consistency but we’re aware this game can bite you on the bum very quickly," said Molesley.

"It was a good day at the office but the hard work continues.

"We’re still not at our best though and we’ve still got plenty to work on."