Determined Exeter Performance For Brown

Manager Phil Brown felt that Southend were more determined than opponents Exeter at the weekend when it came to a desire to win the game.

Speaking to the Official Site following the late one nil victory thanks to an injury time winner by Michael Timlin, Brown explained that he couldn’t have been more pleased to see the lads pick up their fifth consecutive win.

‘We had to wait for it and it was nerve-wracking at the end. The subs came on and made a massive difference. We started the second half better than the first and did better. The ground was firm and hard and it was more of a battle than a game of football and it’s a massive three points for us. We had a great bench today being able to bring on the likes of Barry Corr, Jack Payne and Myles Weston. I didn’t think the width caused them too many problems and we went for a diamond formation.’

Brown went on to say it was our ‘old warhorse’ who finally got the winner and he described his performance as being ‘fantastic’ and he felt he deserved the adulation of getting the winner more than anyone else on the day.

Of course it was a tough victory though as he knows Exeter have quality, and he concedes they played far more football than we did on the day, but this was where he felt our ‘determination’ to get the win was superior as we really had to dig in.

‘Nobody got a foot on the ball in the first half. The second half was better and I think we got what we deserved in the end.’

With Bury up next on Tuesday evening now, Brown also commented that he felt the way the fixtures and results have fallen have really set up a mouthwatering game with both sides going great guns for promotion.

‘It’s a great game on Tuesday now. Bury won today and it’s a real six-pointed for the third place. We’ve won the last five now and six clean sheets in a row – I’m delighted with the mentality of the squad.’

As for brief team news at that stage he said that John White was rated as roughly 50/50 for the Exeter match, and he’d be around 80/20 come Tuesday evening but ‘Lenny wants the shirt!’