by Tony Curtis

THERE are many words in the English dictionary to describe the clash between Southend and York City.

Dire, dour and disappointing are three which spring instantly to mind. One of my fellow hacks described it as a typical Third Division game, but I'm afraid he was wrong - it was far, far worse.

It was not just the Minstermen who had an off-day, it was Southend as well - a club supposedly making a concerted push for the play-offs

My sympathy went out to the 200-plus fans from York who had made the journey, because after the thrills of Fulham, the highs of Hull and the glut of goals at Rochdale, they were treated to a poor excuse of a spectacle at Roots Hall.

All that said, when you are a club battling for survival at the basement of the division it is not performances that count, it is points.

City would have left Essex knowing that although their display will not be one that lives in the memory, the fact the 1-0 win keeps a barrier between them and bottom-placed Halifax could be vital - especially with a trip to the Shay coming up tomorrow.

On-loan Barnsley striker Jon Parkin popped up in the dying minutes to score what could prove to be a priceless goal, while goalkeeper Alan Fettis, on his 100th appearance, proved his usual unbeatable self with two outstanding late saves.

But with Southend reduced to ten men for more than 50 minutes after a moment of sheer stupidity by Mark Beard, City perhaps should have sewn up the game long before.

City boss Terry Dolan had indicated before the match that Parkin could play in defence.

But with Mike Basham shaking off a knock to his ankle the Barnsley man was thrust up front alongside Michael Proctor and Peter Duffield as City went for the ever adventurous-looking 3-4-3 formation.

Unfortunately that is as adventurous as the game got, with Southend starting the livelier of the two sides.

Barrington Belgrave hit the side-netting early on, while Carl Hutchings hit the target with a free-kick but the ball had no power behind it and dribbled into Fettis' hands.

Hutchings also hit another shot straight at the former Northern Ireland international, this time after a smart move involving Mark Rawle and Belgrave.

Proctor was his lively self up front, while the height, weight and strength of Parkin made him a handful for the Southend defence, but York failed to carve any real openings until the half hour.

Parkin outjumped the impressive Leon Cort to put Proctor in the clear. However, with just 'keeper Darryl Flahavan to beat the Sunderland man tried a fancy chip which failed to test the Southend number one.

Three minutes later Proctor had another chance but this time Cort managed to get his body in the way of his shot after Mark Maley's teasing cross.

Tes Bramble had a 25-yard effort well saved before Southend were reduced to ten men eight minutes before the break.

Right midfielder Beard was caught by a reckless challenge from behind by Matt Hocking.

A foul and a booking seemed a certainty, but Beard decided to be the judge, jury and execution as he grabbed the floored Hocking by the throat and then stamped on him.

Despite Beard lamely protesting he had tried to get out of Hocking's way, the red card was rightly produced, as was the yellow shown to the City defender for his initial tackle.

Hopes that City could go on from here were not to be met and, is often the case, it was the ten men of Southend who seemed more likely to snatch something from the game. Rawle really should have done better when he headed Bramble's ball across the face of the goal.

Immediately after the break City pushed to break the deadlock with Cort forced to head over Maley's early inswinging cross.

But City were soon on the backfoot and anyone having come in for the second-half could have been mistaken for thinking it was the visitors who had the ten men.

Stuart Thurgood tried his luck from range, while Fettis denied substitute Tony Richards with a great sprawling save for just yards out before Hocking cleared the danger.

From the resultant corner, swung in by Damon Searle, Phil Whelan flicked the ball back across to Cort, whose header hit the underside of the crossbar and was cleared off the line by Chris Smith.

York responded with a superb long-range drive from Duffield, which was well saved by Flahavan, but this was just a warning for Southend.

With five minutes left on the clock Graham Potter looked to have initially missed out on sending a cross into the box when Scott Forbes disposessed him by the left-hand corner flag. But City's left midfielder won the ball back for Proctor to float the ball in.

Centre-half Smith managed to flick the ball on to Parkin and he made himself an instant hero with the City faithful as his looping header sailed into the net.

But while the travelling support began to celebrate the win, Southend went dangerously close to spoiling the party three minutes into injury time.

Searle's corner was again flicked on by Whelan and this time Forbes was there to hit an instinctive drive from five yards out, only for Fettis to produce a scintilating save.

It was a classic stop, if not a classic game.

Fact File:

Southend

Scorers: none

Southend: Flahavan, Broad, Cort, Whelan, Beard, Thurgood, Hutchings (Forbes 78), Rawle (Johnson 62), Bramble (Richards 71), Belgrave. Subs (not used), Gay, Newman. Bookings: Broad (69 foul), Searle (85 dissent). Sent off: Beard (37 violent conduct).

York City

Scorer: Parkin 84.

York City: Fettis 8, Potter 7, Basham 6, Brass 7, Bullock 6 (Richardson 78), Duffield 6 (Mathie 90), Proctor 6, Smith 6, Hocking 7, Maley 6, Parkin 6. Subs (not used) Howarth, Wood, Fox. Bookings: Hocking (37 foul), Maley (47 foul), Proctor (65 foul). Sent off: None.

Attendance: 3,967

Referee: Grant Hegley (Bishops Stortford)

Updated: 13:53 Monday, February 11, 2002