Brown relieved after narrow win

Southend manager Phil Brown admitted his side were lucky to see off York 1-0 at Roots Hall.

An 88th-minute penalty from substitute Shaq Coulthirst secured the Shrimpers a third successive win. But Brown felt struggling York deserved to get something out of the game. "York showed what a decent side they are and it's crazy they're third from bottom," said the Shrimpers boss. "They haven't been getting what they deserved and they didn't here either because they deserved to win. I think it's the first time since I've been here that we've played ugly and won and it was a big relief to get the three points. "In truth, the performance was unacceptable and too many of the players were below par. "But the subs made a massive impact when they came on, none more so than Shaq. "He showed real enthusiasm and also real bottle to step up and take that penalty." Coulthirst, who is on loan from Tottenham, stroked the spot-kick into the right side of the goal after Joe Pigott had been bundled over in the box by York defender Brad Halliday. However, up until then, York had been the better team but fluffed their lines in front of goal. Luke Summerfield had a curling effort pushed wide of the right post by Southend goalkeeper Daniel Bentley midway through the first half before City skipper Russ Penn headed inches wide of the opposite post from close range. Moments later, Bentley again did well to tip a low shot from Jake Hyde wide of the target and, on the stroke of half-time, another close range header from Penn was cleared off the goal-line by Southend midfielder Michael Timlin. After the break, York were not quite as threatening and the Shrimpers almost went in front when Pigott had a 12 yard shot blocked by Bobby Olejnik. But, just as Southend seemed to be heading for a fourth successive home draw, Coulthirst popped up to score the Shrimpers' first goal at home since November. And that infuriated York boss Russ Wilcox. "I thought we were outstanding and it's very frustrating to have lost because we dominated the first half," said Wilcox. "We obviously needed to score during that time and it has cost us in the end. "You have to take your chances and we didn't do that. "Southend have a great clean sheet record at home but they didn't deserve a clean sheet today because we created so many opportunities. "For any neutrals watching they would've thought it was us at the top and Southend at the bottom and it's disappointing to be going away with nothing."