Ten-man Shrews defeat Shrimpers

Jermaine Grandison headed a late winner as Shrewsbury toppled Southend 2-1 despite playing with 10 men for more than an hour.

The game exploded into life when Shrewsbury striker Marvin Morgan was controversially shown a straight red card in the 28th minute after lunging at Southend midfielder Jean-Paul Kalala.

The dismissal galvanised Shrewsbury and the depleted home side went on to dominate the rest of the first half.

Dave McAllister, Jon Taylor and Joe Jacobson both drove shots just wide from the edge of the box while Southend goalkeeper Glenn Morris did well to claw away a hanging Grandison effort.

Shrewsbury took the lead six minutes into the second half, as James Collins converted a penalty after he had been brought down by Peter Gilbert.

Southend equalised in the 66th minute, with substitute Ryan Hall squeezing a shot from the edge of the box past Chris Neal, but after a long delay following an injury to home defender Shane Cansdell-Sherriff, Shrewsbury grabbed a deserved winner eight minutes from time when Grandison powered home a header from a Matt Richards corner.