SOUTHEND United bounced back from midweek disappointment to beat Altrincham 2-0 at Roots Hall this afternoon.

The Shrimpers saw their 13 match unbeaten run ended by Dagenham & Redbridge on Tuesday night.

But Kevin Maher’s side responded strongly to the setback with goals from Nathan Ralph and Matt Dennis securing all three points.

However, early on, it was not straight forward for Blues and Altrincham came close to taking the lead when Matty Kosylo thundered a long range effort against the inside of the left post before it also hit the opposite upright and somehow stayed out of the South Stand net.

Jake Cooper then headed a right wing corner from Dan Mooney wide of the left post before Blues hit back to open the scoring, with skipper Ralph on target in the 36th minute.

The defender reacted sharply after visiting goalkeeper Tony Thompson had spilt a right wing corner from Tom Clifford and fired home from close range, with the assistant referee flagging to confirm the ball had crossed the goal-line.

The Shrimpers soon doubled their lead with a well-worked goal which saw Clifford play in Jack Bridge down the left hand side and his low cross was tapped home by Dennis from close range for his eighth goal of the season.

Blues were forced into a change at the break with Will Atkinson taking the place of Ralph but the hosts continued to push forward with Noor Husin dragging a shot wide of the right post after neat approach play from Bridge.

But goal mouth action was in short supply during a quite a quiet second half as the Shrimpers comfortably held on to complete the double over Altrincham.