SOUTHEND United's under 18 side moved into the third round of the National League U19 Alliance League Cup with an impressive 1-0 win at home to Barking.

A solitary goal six minutes before half-time by Sisanda Maguranyanga – his tenth of the current campaign – was enough to see Tom Bailey’s side progress against tough opposition in the form of a Barking side coached by former Blues youth team captain Ross Johnson and ex-first team goalkeeper Carl Emberson.

“I’m beyond proud of the way the boys played,” Bailey declared.

“It was an extremely difficult game; Barking are such a strong team.

"They’ve had a decent run in The FA Youth Cup this year, they had a very good run in The FA Youth Cup last year and we knew how strong they would be.”

“It’s a very pleasing victory.

"It was a different type of performance from the boys because it was backs to the wall and we had to defend the edge of our box for long periods, and you are always going to give away some chances when you do that, but we didn’t give away too many, and that’s what’s won us the game.”

Blues made three changes to the team that had swept aside Dagenham & Redbridge in their previous fixture.

Luca Sorrentino replaced Joshua Barrett in goal after the latter’s U19s call-up for the BBC Essex Senior Cup tie the previous night, with Prince Chinedum and Brandon Dadson also restored to the team in place of Samuel Gordon and Riley Sykes.

The visitors presented a different challenge for Bailey’s charges, and an interesting tactical battle ensued as Southend tried to work out how to break down their opponents.

Barking had the first shot of the match, through Taylor Jacobi, who saw a 25-yard shot deflected wide in the fifth minute, and midway through the half Jacobi curled a 30-yard free-kick at Sorrentino.

In between central defender Prince Chinedum enjoyed contrasting fortunes.

On 12 minutes he did well to shadow Somefechi Uhonu down the right-hand side of the penalty area and out of play, but five minutes later he was robbed of possession and Joseph Babatunde saw a fierce strike diverted wide before the resultant corner was cleared off the goal-line.

Southend’s forwards went into the game with 14 goals between them in the first five matches of the season, but the teenage Shrimpers were struggling to locate them in areas where they could threaten their opponents.

On 11 minutes Maguranyanga had tracked across the penalty area but failed to pick out Zlatev, and on 23 minutes Zlatev’s pass for his team-mate was over-hit.

Kye Munro saw a 27th-minute strike charged down following Maguranyanga’s right-wing run, but Barking should have edged ahead six minutes later when Nana Yaw Agoagye Junior’s right-wing cross was volleyed into the six-yard box by Quinn Seymour and Esli Dapaah smashed over from close range.

Jimi Feeley also drew a good save from Sorrentino during this passage of play but, on 39 minutes, Blues edged ahead.

Oscar Miller did well on the counter-attack, waiting patiently before crossing for Maguranyanga, who controlled the ball on his thigh before shifting it to his left and firing clinically into the left-hand portion of the net.

Bailey was pleased to see the former Hamilton Academical youngster find the target in a fixture where such opportunities were at a premium.

“It was a game of few chances," said Bailey.

"There were probably three good ones each, but it was very tight.

“I’ve spoken about the front two quite often, and we know if a chance falls to them, there’s a good chance they’ll score it, and that does give us such an advantage in a game.

We know that, in a tight game, we have two players on the pitch who can score 20 goals a season, and that’s such an asset for any team. That goal was the difference today.”

It was enough to keep Southend ahead at the interval, and within three minutes of the restart they could have doubled the advantage when Ronnie Durussel swung in a sublime cross to the far post and Yobor Sorae stretched and failed to keep his finish down.

Early in the second period the action was quite frenetic, and Babatunde’s stinging 25-yard shot was well held by Sorrentino at one end before Zlatev’s strike at the other was repelled by Henry Noakes in the Barking goal.

Just after the hour mark, Babatunde’s left-wing centre was smashed over on the turn by Kimani Kitoko.

Perhaps the crucial moment in the match arrived with 20 minutes remaining as the Blues back-line stood firm twice in quick succession.

First Jacobi’s free-kick located Marcel De Souza Boachie and his shot was brilliantly diverted over by Chinedum before Feeley’s corner was cleared off the line by Alfie Humphrey.

Maguranyanga could have added an element of comfort to the scoreline when he connected with Dadson’s 72nd-minute pass, but he stabbed over at the near post and so the match remained finely poised, with the mist falling in the gloom, going into the final quarter-of-an-hour.

With seven minutes remaining, Jacobi curled a free-kick narrowly over and, in the last of the regulation ninety minutes, Barking substitute Geirge Briton-Watkins nodded off-target from close range after being picked out by a left-wing cross.

There was still time for an additional five minutes, but the best opportunity during this period fell to Dadson, who made space for himself in the penalty area before curling the ball around Noakes, only for De Souza Boachie to appear and nod off the goal-line.

However, Blues were soon able to celebrate a place in the Third Round thanks to a resolute team performance, leaving Bailey delighted: “As a defensive unit, all 11 players contributed to that massively, and the work-rate they put in was absolutely superb.

"Barking are a very strong team, and I think they won their league last year as well, so we knew what we were up against.”

Southend United U18s: Luca Sorrentino, Ronnie Durussel, Oscar Miller, Alfie Humphrey, Prince Chinedum, James Datey, Yobor Sorae, Kye Munro, Nikolay Zlatev, Brandon Dadson (Ibrahim Lima, 90+4), Sisanda Maguranyanga (Innocent Duru, 75).

Subs not used: Samuel Gordon, Riley Sykes, Muhammad Limbada.