SOUTHEND United under 18 side eased into the second round of the National League U19 Alliance League Cup with a 3-0 victory away to Dagenham & Redbridge.

Forwards Nikolay Zlatev, Brandon Dadson and Sisanda Maguranyanga were all on target for Tom Bailey’s team as they put a lengthy period without a competitive fixture behind them to register their second success of the 2024/25 campaign.

Zlatev broke the deadlock just 60 seconds before half-time when Blues got the first contact to a scuffed Dagenham clearance and Dadson slipped his team-mate through to curl a superb left-footed strike over the goalkeeper and into the net.

The teenage Shrimpers doubled their lead midway through the second half when Dadson’s opportunistic strike from 25 yards out left the home goalkeeper flat-footed and the ball flew into the corner to make it 2-0.

On 77 minutes, a typically virtuoso goal from Maguranyanga sealed Southend’s progress as he dumped two Dagenham defenders on the floor with a jinking run before beating a couple more and seeing his finish roll over the line despite the goalkeeper getting a strong hand to the ball.

Bailey was delighted to see the trio continue where they had left off last month in the league win over West Ham United Foundation. “It’s been a long time since our last competitive game, so it’s nice to get back into the swing,” he said.

“It was a tricky match, so to come away with three different scorers and a win is very pleasing. It was good for each of them to get on the scoresheet, but particularly for Nikolay as he had a pre-season surge and this was his first in a competitive game. The target for each of them is to reach double-figures during the season.”

Bailey was equally content with the defensive shape of the team as they recorded a first clean sheet of the campaign and ensured serene progress into the next round of the knockout competition, especially after some of the squad were involved in The FA Youth Cup reverse the previous week against Harpenden Town.

“In the first half Luca Sorrentino made a couple of good saves, and one in particular was a great save from a set-piece,” he reported.

“It was good for us to get to grips with the set-pieces in the second half and it was a solid defensive performance.”

“It was a good team effort; although we won against West Ham, you never want to concede three goals in a game. The back five looked confident and it was pleasing to bounce back with a clean sheet.”

“We spoke before the game about potentially having 26 games this season, but if we’d’ve lost on Wednesday that would immediately have been reduced to 19.

"It was good to get into the next round. We knew it was going to be a difficult pitch, so it was good to get to grips with that. We were the better team throughout and the boys now want to go as far as they can.”

“Some of the boys were involved in the FA Youth Cup last week, and they were disappointed with that result.

"We felt we could’ve done better, and others wanted to be involved, but we have a big squad.

"Afterwards we explained they had to focus on the next game; we knew it would be difficult but we out-fought and out-ran Dagenham and that was pleasing,” he concluded.

Southend United U18s: Luca Sorrentino, Ronnie Durussel, Oscar Miller (Riley Sykes, 67), Alfie Humphrey, Prince Chinedum, James Datey (Samuel Gordon, 78), Yobor Sorae, Ibrahim Lima (Kye Munro, 67), Nikolay Zlatev (Innocent Duru, 69), Brandon Dadson (George Riches, 80), Sisanda Maguranyanga.