
Southend beat Forest Green on penalties to reach National League play-off final
Southend booked a place in the National League play-off final against Oldham at Wembley after beating Forest Green 4-2 on penalties.
The Shrimpers' Jack Bridge swept home four minutes from the end to cancel out Emmanuel Osadebe's extra-time header to make it 2-2 and force the shoot-out, with Gus Scott-Morris scoring the spot-kick which secured victory.
Osadebe had come off the bench just before the match finished 1-1 in regulation time but within four minutes of the restart headed down Liam Sercombe's cross to the far post.
A relatively uneventful first half saw Southend's Keenan Appiah-Forson hit the crossbar from the edge of the area but it was not until the 54th minute that the deadlock was broken when team-mate Ben Goodliffe's header looped over the goalkeeper at the near post.
But the lead lasted just eight minutes as Kyle McAllister's cross was nodded in by Ryan Innis to take the game to extra time.

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BBC News
4 hours ago
- BBC News
Hart says 'stars aligned' for Rebels head coach role
Former Great Britain player Joe Hart believes becoming head coach of Essex Rebels men's team is a "perfect match".The 31-year-old has taken charge after Ross Norfolk stood joined the National League Basketball Division One club last year following spells with Plymouth City Patriots and Newcastle Eagles."When I heard about the opportunity, it consumed my thoughts night and day. It's always something I've wanted to do," he told BBC Essex Sport."I'm aware there are very few opportunities in this country to step into a position like this. I'm from Southend so I've got an affiliation for the area and it kind of seemed like the stars are aligned, a perfect match." The men's team won promotion to Division One five years ago and finished sixth in 2024-25 before losing to Reading Rockets in the play-off quarter-finals."I would love for us to win something, I'd love us to be competing for the league and playing in finals," said Hart."Whether that happens or not leads back to my philosophy of if we're doing things the right way, I'll be content if we don't end up with everyone celebrating at the end of the season, but hopefully, it is a by-product."He continued: "I've always wanted to coach, throughout my playing career it's always been something I was drawn to. I don't know if I was necessarily ready to stop playing but when you get an opportunity to be part of a programme like this and take the lead on something, it definitely helped me take that step."The Rebels are based at the University of Essex, with the women's team competing in Super League Basketball. It is Hart's first head coach role, but he said: "In my second year at Plymouth, I had a torn ACL and because of that I couldn't play, but the club offered me a role as an assistant coach for the men's team - and for the entirety of my time at Plymouth, I coached their university programme and we subsequently had a Division Three side as well."In my last season, we set up an academy so I was coaching 16 to 18 year olds as well on a daily basis, so I've had a little bit of experience with men at pro level, a little bit more hands-on at university level and as well with the 18s."I am excited to oversee this programme now, there's a good balance of guys who are professional and guys still early in their development, which is a nice blend."


The Courier
21 hours ago
- The Courier
Raith Rovers close in on first summer signing as defender targeted
Raith Rovers are poised to make non-league defender Jai Rowe their first summer signing. The Kirkcaldy outfit are understood to be in talks with the 23-year-old as they bid to strengthen Barry Robson's squad ahead of the new campaign. It is thought the right-back has been recommended by contacts south of the border. Rowe is out of contract at Boston United and had been offered fresh terms by the National League club. However, it is understood the former Scunthorpe United and Aldershot Town full-back could instead complete a move to Stark's Park. Rowe began his senior career with Barwell in the seventh tier of English football before spending three seasons with Scunthorpe in League Two. Following relegation in 2022, he stayed on with The Iron before making the switch to Aldershot for a brief spell the following January. He has since spent the last two years with Boston and was a regular last term playing under the former Livingston defender, Graham Coughlan. Described as being capable of playing 'across the backline or in midfield', the ever-present Rowe scored nine times in 55 appearances in 2024/25 to finish as Boston's second-top scorer. Right-back has been something of a problem position for Rovers in recent times. Ross Millen was a regular pick until a falling out behind the scenes led to him being frozen out in February 2024. Since then, Raith have had St Johnstone loan player James Brown, ex-Dundee United defender Kieran Freeman and one-time Chelsea youngster Fankaty Dabo on the right side of their defence. With Middlesbrough's George Gitau arriving on loan in January with an injury and failing to make a single appearance, they finished last season with attacker Josh Mullin filling in admirably at right wing-back. But it was clear they needed more defensive cover and it appears they are hopeful Rowe is the answer. Robson has not yet made a signing since it was announced last month that five players – Freeman, Kevin Dabrowski, Aidan Connolly, Euan Murray and Jake Nicholson – had been freed. With Ross Matthews and Callum Smith having since agreed fresh terms, Jamie Gullan and Liam Dick have also departed, whilst youngsters Andy McNeil and Callum Hannah were also said to be 'in discussions'. There have also been changes behind the scenes, with assistant-manager Colin Cameron being axed in favour of a move for former Brechin City boss Andy Kirk.


The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- The Herald Scotland
Scotland have suffered a system malfunction
Losing goalkeeper Angus Gunn early on and having to bring on the uncapped Cieran Slicker to replace him was far from ideal for manager Steve Clarke. Still, Andy Robertson and his team mates could have no complaints about the final scoreline. This was another dire display and a wretched result. Here are five talking points from a bitterly disappointing night for Scotland. Nightmare debut The last thing that Clarke, who had been at pains to point how few goalkeepers Scotland have playing at a decent level when he named his squad for this double header last month, was to see his first choice goalkeeper pick up an injury. But that is exactly what happened. In just the third minute too. Gunn was clattered by Andri Gudjohnsen as he tried to pluck a high ball out of the air and landed awkwardly. He failed to respond to medical attention and hobbled off with the help of a physio. It was a devastating setback for a man who has not had his problems to seek fitness wise this term. Read more: The 15-times capped 29-year-old had not featured in an international since the narrow Nations League loss to Portugal in Lisbon back in September and he was eager to make amends for lost time and stake a claim for a start in World Cup qualifying. It was not to be. Gunn's knock meant an unexpected debut for Slicker of Ipswich Town. The 22-year-old, who is eligible to represent Scotland because of his Glaswegian father, made just one appearance in the season which has just finished. He came on for the final nine minutes of an FA Cup win over Bristol Rovers in January. His lack of game time showed. He played the ball straight to Stefan Poroarson shortly after taking to the field. The Iceland midfielder nodded down to Gudjohnsen who did superbly curl a left foot shot into the top left corner. The son of former Barcelona Chelsea star Eidur is a chip off the old block. It was hard not to feel sympathy for the newcomer. But he settled the nerves he would inevitably have been feeling when he saved a long-range Jon Dagur Porsteinsson attempt. His distribution improved thereafter too. Not that it could have got any worse. Could Slicker have done better at the visitors' second goal on the stroke of half-time? Possibly. But the Albert Gudmundsson corner came off John Souttar, Grant Hanley and finally Lewis Ferguson before it trundled over his line. It was a comedy or errors. The Oldham-born keeper, too, flapped at the header Victor Palsson got on target at a Gudmondsson free-kick and failed to keep it out. There was a lengthy VAR check to see if the scorer had been offside. The defender, though, was on when the ball was played through to him. System malfunction With Kieran Tierney considered fit enough to start once again, Clarke reverted to the five man defence which had served him so well during the opening games of the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign. He positioned the Celtic full-back on the left of three centre-backs and deployed Robertson at wing back outside him. (Image: Jane Barlow) It did not work, either defensively or offensively. Yes, the hosts created a few chances and levelled when John Souttar held off Mikael Egill Ellertsson and nodded a Max Johnston corner home. But the players looked uncomfortable in the system and there were far, far too many open spaces for their opponents to exploit. Billy Gilmour, Scott McTominay and Lewis Ferguson, who have picked up silverware in Italy with Napoli and Bologna respectively this term, started together in midfield for just the third time. But they proved incapable of turning things around. Clarke needs to have a rethink. Tierney and Robertson and have played in a flat back four together at international level in the past and can do so again in future if required. At this moment, a move to a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3 is worth trying. There is no point persevering with a system which functioned effectively in the past if it is not working now. Scotland switched to a back four when Clarke made a triple substitution in the second half and looked better for it. Bright Hirst It may take Scotland supporters a little time to get used to a striker called Hirst playing up front for them even if his surname is spelt differently from a certain former England centre forward. But members of the Tartan Army may have to get used to the Ipswich Town man George, who was preferred to Che Adams, James Wilson, Kieron Bowie and Tommy Conway up front, leading the line for them. Clarke is clearly an admirer of the former England age-group player, who qualifies to play for this country through his paternal grandfather, as this was the third game in a row he has fielded him. He came on in both of the Greece games back in March. Read more: But this was a first start for him. He showed why was given the nod despite failing to find the target during his time on the park. He headed a John McGinn chip over, forced a one-handed save from Elias Rafn Olafsson after meeting a Scott McTominay cutback with a first-time shot and had a goal, correctly, chalked off for offside. He received a warm round of applause when he was replaced by Adams. Rightly so. He showed he has much to offer despite the result. To the Max Johnston, who helped Sturm Graz to retain their Bundesliga title in Austria this season, caught Clarke's eye in training at Lesser Hampden this week and started at right wing-back ahead of both Anthony Ralston of Celtic and the returning Nathan Patterson of Everton. He had some good moments and set up the Scotland goal. It was also nice to see Lennon Miller, the teenage Motherwell midfielder, make his first appearance for his country. He came on for Tierney as Scott McKenna replaced Hanley. Patterson later took over from Johnston and Tommy Conway came on for McTominay. But none of the replacements made a significant difference. Tartan Army boo boys The boos and jeers which rang out at the half-time and full-time whistle told a story. The Scotland supporters were furious with the insipid performance they had witnessed. A vast improvement against Liechtenstein in Vaduz on Monday is now needed to get the fans back onside ahead of the World Cup qualifying opener against Denmark.