SOUTHEND United boss Kevin Maher was disappointed his side could not make more of their momentum in this afternoon’s 2-1 defeat at Barnet.

The Shrimpers were on top midway through the second half when Gus Scott-Morriss’ equaliser cancelled out Harry Chapman’s opener for the Bees.

But it was Barnet who went on to triumph with Mark Shelton on target from the penalty spot, much to the frustration of Maher.

“When we got back to 1-1 we were the team in ascendancy and we were pushing, looking to get the winner but it was just one moment,” said Maher.

“They’ve broken on a counter-attack and we’ve given a penalty away which is disappointing.

“We felt the momentum was with us but all of a sudden the game changes again with the penalty.

“We tried to change it and they make changes too but they probably have a stronger squad than us at the minute.”

Barnet led 1-0 at the break after having the better of the first half.

But Maher felt there was little between the two teams in the opening 45 minutes.

“We probably didn’t look after the ball well enough but I wasn’t too displeased,” said the Shrimpers boss.

“We’ve got to do better in the final third maybe but I don’t think they had that many clear cut chances.

“We got on the front foot more in the second half and got bodies forward.

“George (Moncur) coming on gave us that bit of an attacking threat and we were looking like we were going to win it.”

Blues were ultimately undone by a penalty from Shelton following a foul in the area by Adam Crowther.

But Maher still took heart from aspects of his side’s performance.

“Barnet are a team who have been together a long while and will be favourites to go up,” said Maher.

“We’ve more than matched a team who are going to be up there but we want to get results.

“ We showed a but of naivety and we couldn’t capitalise on the momentum we had.”

And that made it a frustrating for the 1,603 Shrimpers supporters in attendance.

“Last year we fell short and we’ve done it again this year,” said Maher.

“It’s so frustrating because of the support they give us.

“You can feel when we’re attacking that end they’re trying to suck the ball into the net but we’ve got to do better in the final third