Southend United 0-1 Doncaster Rovers (2006)

Southend United 0-1 Doncaster Rovers

Coca-Cola League One

Saturday 22nd April 2006

When Michael McIndoe usurped to Derby County in March 2006 from the shadows of his departure stepped James Coppinger.

The 25-year-old hadn't exactly set the world alight since his arrival from Exeter City and, then in his second year at Belle Vue, there'd even been speculation linking him with a loan switch to Rotherham United just a few months earlier.

Nevertheless, it was Coppinger's finish to the 2005/06 campaign - in the absence of the much-talked about McIndoe, plus subsequent events at the start of the following season when Sean O'Driscoll replaced Dave Penney, which set the tone for him to go on to have such a distinguished career at the club.

Celebrations after Coppinger's goal (Photo: Getty Images).

This game at Roots Hall against Southend United was particularly memorable for various reasons.

Under Steve Tilson, the Shrimpers had defied the odds and knew that a win here would see them achieve a second successive promotion to reach the Championship. Roots Hall was packed to the rafters and media had travelled from far and wide to witness what everyone anticipated would be their big day - including John Salako who was positioned close to the away end and doing live updates for Soccer Saturday. 

Southend's attack was one of the most formidable in the division with Shaun Goater and Lee Bradbury on the books, though their undoubted shining light was 20-goals-a-season striker Freddy Eastwood who, it was rumoured, lived in a caravan at the time. 

With three games of the League One season to go, Rovers still had lingering hopes of finishing in the play-off positions but knew that doing so would be unlikely. Quite simply, they had to win every game and hope that several results elsewhere were favourable!

After plenty of fanfare and a buzz of excitement around the ground in the run up to kick-off, there was a pleasant surprise in Rovers' starting line-up with Jermaine McSporran making his long-awaited first team return having been sidelined for just over a year with a knee injury.

The 10,397 crowd watched on as Southend knocked the ball around pretty well in the early minutes but lacked both fortune and a cutting edge from the half-chances which came their way. Rovers eventually settled when a long downfield punt by Alan Blayney (remember him!) put Duncan Jupp under pressure and a mistake allowed Lewis Guy to get in-behind but the striker couldn't find the target.

Old John Salako can't have done too many updates for Soccer Saturday during the first period but he did cop some 'banter' chants from the Donny fans due to his uncanny resemblance to Jason Grimshaw (off Coronation Street) which he took in good spirit.

The ex-Premier League midfielder was soon on everyone's TV screens though because within a minute of the re-start as Guy atoned for his earlier gilt-edged miss by turning Adam Barrett and feeding a delightful inviting ball into the path of Coppinger who emphatically smashed it home.

Celebrating the good times! (Photo: Unknown).

Whilst there was stunned, dumbfounded silence amongst Southend's fans, whose big day was threatening to be ruined, Coppinger's goal prompted wild celebrations in the away end directly behind the goal - especially from 'Pie Man' (Jake Power) who whipped his shirt off to reveal the exact reasons why he earned his famous nickname. Sadly, no longer with us, 'Pie' was an absolute legend, ever-present at every game and you couldn't meet a bigger DRFC supporter during this particular era.

The shirt was soon off again when Guy put the ball in the back of the net to seemingly make it 2-0, and provoke more celebrations, only for the officials to turn joy to despair and rule the 'goal' out due to offside. 'Pie's' quickfire stripping antics on this occasion was picked up by the TV cameras and resulted in him being featured on Soccer AM the following week!

Sean Thornton caused all sorts of problems; setting up long-serving right-back Simon Marples in one move who saw his effort saved by Darryl Flahavan, but eventually the tide began to turn and Southend finished proceedings strongly.

With a win that would have taken them up to the Championship looking increasing unlikely as precious minutes ebbed away, Doncaster were only too happy to be party poopers and the final whistle was meant with war-cries of 'Rovers Til I Die' and chants of 'P*ssed on Your Party!' to the Southend fans who were scuttled out the ground in disappointment.

Coppinger maintained his fine form by scoring the winner in a victory over Oldham Athletic the following week before making it four goals in as many games as Rovers won 2-0 at Tranmere Rovers on the final day of the season though results elsewhere meant they missed out on the play-offs.

Southend, meanwhile, went up to the Championship the following week and were promoted alongside Essex rivals Colchester United. It's a stark contrast to the time of writing where, on the back of a defeat in the Essex Derby, the Shrimpers need a massive miracle if they're to remain in the Football League beyond this weekend!

Celebrations after the opener (Photo: Unknown).