Football – England – League Two Play Off Semi Final 2nd Leg
Thursday 14th May 2015 – Kickoff: 1945hrs
Southend United and Stevenage go into tonight’s second leg at Roots Hall locked up at 1-1 following a cautious but tetchy play-off opener at Stevenage last Sunday.
Southend United now appear to have the edge with home advantage as they look to progress through to the final at Wembley, but they’ll no doubt face a spirited Stevenage outfit who have done tremendously well to reach this stage. The Shrimps finished in fifth place at the end of the season just one point adrift of promoted Bury, but they held a very solid home record of 12-8-3 25/9 while their seven straight wins were brought to a halt with recent away matches at Morecambe and Stevenage.
On home turf though, Southend are unbeaten in their last seven which includes winning their last four on the trot (all to nil) with wins over Mansfield Town, Tranmere Rovers, Newport County and Luton Town.
Strikers Corr and Pigott look the likeliest anytime goalscorer for the hosts tonight.
Visitors Stevenage were unable to hold onto their lead against Southend in the first leg which they enjoyed for only nine minutes before being pegged back by The Shrimps. They now face a very tough task of beating a Southend side who have lost at Roots Hall on just three occasions throughout the season, as Stevenage seek a Wembley appearance.
That said, Stevenage have lost just once in their last nine in League Two which was a 2-0 defeat away at local rivals Luton Town, and they’ve tightened things up considerably on the road where they finished with a record of 5-9-9 25/31.
However, drilling down a bit deeper and you’ll find that Stevenage have won the least amount of away games in the top seven and have also conceded the most goals on their travels too.
With this in mind, I’ll back a solid Southend outfit to edge the tie here tonight in what could perhaps be a 1-0 win for the hosts.
Pick: Southend United straight win @ 2.00 Bet Victor
