Ashley Nathaniel-George seals vital Shrimpers win

Ashley Nathaniel-George doubled his goal tally for the season as he lashed home to earn Southend United a vital three points in a 1-0 victory away at Harrogate Town.

It was a real ‘do or die’ fixture for the Shrimpers, being six points from safety at the start of the day, with further dropped points potentially leaving the league table looking extremely bleak for Mark Molesley’s side. But the victory takes them to just three points from safety, and the sides hovering just above the drop zone are now within touching distance of the south Essex side.

After the 4-0 demolition that Harrogate dealt Southend on the opening day of the season, Shrimpers fans would’ve been forgiven for not feeling too hopeful of taking anything in the reverse fixture. But the performance at the EnviroVent stadium was more than worthy of the three points.

In recent weeks, Molesley has adapted his side’s shape from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-4-2 in a bid to add more goal threat to his side’s performances. The lone striker in the previous formation, typically Emile Acquah, was getting isolated all too often and chances on goal were few and far between.

The new system was executed very well against Harrogate. Acquah’s hold up play allowed Simeon Akinola, James Olayinka and Nathaniel-George a route into the opposing third and as a result, the chances were created to win the Blues the game.

A goal from open play is like gold dust for Southend, who before the match had only scored once in their last seven matches, with that strike coming from the penalty spot.

Both that goal and the winner at Harrogate came from the same source, Nathaniel-George. The tricky winger has been probably the most frustrating player for the Shrimpers this season. The 25-year-old is as good a player as you’ll see in League Two when dribbling with the ball, but his end-product has been woefully poor. It seemed a lack of confidence more than anything, and now that the winger has scored twice in his last three matches, that issue could begin to be ironed out.

His goal against Harrogate will have been particularly pleasing to Blues boss Molesley as it came as a result of the winger following up a shot on goal attempted by Alan McCormack. Southend have been guilty this season of not getting enough bodies in the box, not taking enough chances and not anticipating where the ball will drop, but that was not the case in north Yorkshire.

Molesley has mentioned often that a balance needs to be perfectly struck between the defensive and attacking intent of the team. Previously, he has set up very defensively, and rightfully so as at that time, the quantity of goal being conceded was unacceptable. A sustained period of solid defensive performances seems to have given his side a great deal of confidence that they will no longer let in so many goals, and now the onus must change to increase the team’s attacking intent, and whilst it seems to be improving somewhat it is very much a work in progress.

Following up good results is often a problem for Southend and with so little time left in the season, they need to be right at it in their next game to claw back the point deficit which would see them relegated as things stand. With goalscoring the clear issue, they must continue in the way they did against Harrogate, committing men forward and anticipating the drop of the ball in the dangerous areas.

The Blues simply haven’t scored enough goals this season, but the team can take a lot of encouragement from their victory at Harrogate, as the increase in attacking intent was met with a great reward and a hugely significant three points for Southend at this stage of the season.