SOUTHEND United striker Harry Cardwell felt the Shrimpers' 2-0 win at Dagenham & Redbridge was inspired by the travelling supporters.

Cardwell bagged Blues' first goal at Victoria Road.

And the 26-year-old admitted it was 'immense' to work on his way onto the score-sheet in front of a sold out away end which contained close to 1,200 Southend fans.

"It felt great," said Cardwell.

"To put on a good performance and to get the three points in front of all those travelling fans was an immense feeling.

"The support was fantastic and it spurred us on as soon we stepped out for the warm up.

"The noise was amazing so I'm just glad we could get the three points.

"We saw throughout the week that the away end had sold out and even coming out for the warm up it's a wow moment.

"They didn't stop for the whole 90 minutes and it was great to get my goal in front of them."

Cardwell - who was also on target on the opening day against Oldham - broke the deadlock when he converted a left wing cross from Jack Bridge.

And he was impressed with the move which led to him hitting his second goal of the season.

"It was a great goal," said Cardwell.

"I've just watched it back in there and it was a really fluent counter-attack.

"I saw Bridgey open up onto his left foot and just thought I had to get across my man.

"I threw myself at it and it was a great start for us. We played some really good football in that first half too.

"I should have had another one myself and I thought it was a dominant performance.

"In the second half it was about being professional and making sure we took the three points back to Southend."

Blues sealed victory late on with another excellent effort from outside the penalty area by Oli Coker.

But Cardwell always felt the Shrimpers were in control.

“It was 1-0 but we felt like we did still have a level of control over the game,” said the striker.

“The second goal was perfect for us to kill it off and see out the last couple of minutes.”

The victory also kept Blues top of the table after two games.

And Cardwell again stressed it was down to the closeness of the Shrimpers squad.

“I'm sure I sound like a broken record the amount of times I've mentioned it but the spirit is amazing and the group we've got is fantastic,” said Cardwell.

“The fitness levels the lads have shown in these two games are great but we all worked hard in pre-season and we're ready to go again on Tuesday.”

Blues head to Dorking Wanderers for their next outing.

But Cardwell is not thinking beyond the midweek fixture.

“We just take it a game at a time so it's on to Tuesday and see what we can do at Dorking,” said the forward.

“Saturday Tuesday is part of the National League season and we'll be ready.”