Southend United 2 - 1 Rochdale: Simon Cox strikes late winner as Southend see off Rochdale

Posted Sunday, January 15, 2017 by PA

Simon Cox's last-gasp winner handed Southend United a dramatic 2-1 victory over Rochdale in a match that both sides ended with 10 men at Roots Hall.

The Shrimpers were initially on top and opened the scoring in the 15th minute when Jermaine McGlashan played in Marc-Antoine Fortune, who rounded the advancing Conrad Logan before tapping home.

Dale suffered a further blow in the 22nd minute when centre-back Keith Keane was sent off for bringing down Fortune when he was clean through on goal.

Southend midfielder Anthony Wordsworth slammed the resulting free-kick against the crossbar before the Shrimpers were also reduced to 10 men in the 34th minute when McGlashan was shown a second yellow card after bringing down Ian Henderson.

Rochdale improved after the break with Calvin Andrew wasting two headers and Jamie Allen having a long-range shot saved by Ted Smith.

Dale equalised in the 66th minute when Andrew cut in off the right-hand side and netted with a deflected left-footed shot which looped into the top left-hand corner of the net.

But Southend struck back to secure all three points when Cox netted a brilliant left-footed shot from eight yards.