JACK Wood scored a second-half hat-trick, but it was not enough to prevent Southend United from exiting the BBC Essex Senior Cup following a 5-3 defeat to Hashtag United.
Wood netted three times inside the final 21 minutes of the clash at Aveley FC’s Parkside Stadium, each time assisted by Mikey Faulkner, but a treble from Harrison Day, together with Sakariya Hassan’s first-half finish, had given Blues a mountain to climb, and Ayo Olukoga ensured there wasn’t to be a dramatic fightback with his own last-gasp finish for the hosts.
Southend, who were coached by youth team boss Danny Heath, named a youthful line-up for the third round encounter, with only Beau MacDonald, Faulkner and Wood possessing any senior experience.
The Shrimpers were hit with a further blow when goalkeeper Charlie Brown was injured in the warm-up and Joshua Barrett replaced him.
Joshua Jackson saw a shot deflected into the gloves of Hashtag goalkeeper Jack Giddens inside the opening 60 seconds, but the hosts soon took the lead as they broke swiftly to the opposite end and on-loan Dagenham & Redbridge attacker Day angled his finish across Barrett and inside the far post from eight yards out.
The Tags could have doubled their advantage in the seventh minute when Micha Djemali slid in and diverted Hassan’s left-wing centre inches past the right-hand post, but they were 2-0 up after 12 minutes when Joshua Osude sprinted away down the right flank and he picked out Hassan, who smashed a close-range shot into the roof of the net.
Osude could have added a third after a quarter-of-an-hour when he was inches away from meeting another Hassan cross, but instead Day extended the lead on 21 minutes as Joshua Rusoke’s quickly-taken free-kick found Osude and he shifted the ball out to the right for another clinical strike.
To their credit, Southend refused to let their heads drop, and Wood held the ball up well on the edge of the penalty area in the 26th minute before laying it off to Olu Shobowale.
He completed a return pass and Wood saw his 20-yard attempt deflected narrowly wide.
Osude, who troubled the Blues back-line throughout with his electric pace, was off-target twice before Nathan Smith’s header from an inswinging corner was scrambled off the goal-line.
Southend managed to keep the deficit down to three at the interval when Barrett first saved from Harry Haysom’s header before coming off his line to dispossess Day.
The second half started with the young custodian doing well to save with his legs and thwart Hashtag substitute Luke May-Parrott’s attempts to score after a direct right-wing run but, on 54 minutes, Day was able to complete his hat-trick after making a near-post run to convert Rusoke’s driven centre.
Just before the fourth goal, Faulkner had curled over from 25 yards out, and the enterprising midfielder almost set up a goal for captain Joe Poxon following a persistent run midway through the second half, but a defender stopped the skipper from getting a shot away.
Instead, Blues were made to wait until the 74th minute to open their account after Faulkner had won possession in the centre circle.
He advanced forwards towards the Hashtag penalty area before slipping the ball into the path of Wood to his right-hand side, and he skipped a challenge before steering his shot into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.
Day nodded onto the roof of the net and Osude fired into the side-netting after being forced wide by Barrett before Southend reduced their arrears still further with five minutes remaining as Faulkner picked out a pass to Wood 25 yards from goal and he tracked inside before curling his shot beyond Giddens.
Any prospects of a dramatic comeback were extinguished in the final minute of the regulation ninety when Day set up substitute Olukoga, who sent a superb strike out of the reach of Barrett at full stretch and into the top left-hand corner of the net.
However, that wasn’t the final action of the match as Faulkner earned possession again in midfield for Wood five minutes into additional time, and the 21-year-old nonchalantly lobbed the ball over the advancing Giddens from outside the penalty area to register a stunning hat-trick.
Southend United: Joshua Barrett, Julius Nwike, Mitchell Ward (Thato Molefi, 74), Joshua Jackson (Zevieyan Makangu, 74), Rio Thomas, Olu Shobowale, George Pulham, Beau MacDonald, Joe Poxon (Jared Nana Asare, 82), Mikey Faulkner, Jack Wood.
7, foul tackle).
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