This was a game that Brodick will look back on and say it probably cost them any chance of winning this year’s title.
A controversial decision in the second half not only enraged the away team, but baffled most of the Southenders in a game that could have gone either way.
It was an open match straight from the off, with plenty of end-to-end movement. Brodick’s ‘Nog’ was the busier of the two keepers, having to make one or two vital blocks as Southend started to turn possession into half-chances.
Brodick never really got a foothold of the game until half an hour in, when Archie McNicol had the away team’s first good chance.
After catching onto a mistake by the Southend centre-backs, he rounded the keeper, only to see his shot blocked off the line by Sandy Kelso.
The second half saw little excitement until the 60th minute, when the referee awarded a questionable penalty to Southend.
A cross kick seemed to hit the stomach of Brodick’s Tony McDowall but referee Willie Stevenson thought differently, claiming the ball hit his arm.
Euan Evans stepped-up and slammed the ball past Nog, who seemed to be trying some sort of foreign technique in an attempt to stop the ball with his leg. Brodick were furious with the referee, and started to trying to create more opportunities. Jamie Sillars and Freddie Galbraith were working the midfield well and it did not take long for Jamie to produce Brodick’s best opportunity of the game.
After seeing Southend keeper Craig Black off his line, he curled the ball over him towards the top corner from 25 yards out.
However, the young keeper was equal to the shot, reacting quickly to tip the ball over the bar for a corner.
Brodick continued to press and their only other real opportunity fell to Greg McRae, who after rising above the Southend defence managed to head the ball over the bar from four yards out.
Although the game could have easily gone either way, Brodick will feel very hard done by.
Brodick face Shiskine next week, in a must-win match for the JinglyJangly boys.
