Pigott brace ends Roots Hall hoodoo

A first-half brace from on-loan striker Joe Pigott ended Southend's Tuesday night Roots Hall hoodoo with a 2-0 win against Cheltenham.The Shrimpers had gone 41 months and 11 games since winning a midweek league game at home. But the result was never in doubt against the struggling Robins.Pigott, who is with Southend temporarily from Charlton, opened the scoring after just nine minutes when he fired home from close range after Jake Cassidy's close-range header from John White's right-wing cross had been parried out by Cheltenham goalkeeper Trevor Carson.The Shrimpers doubled their lead in the 34th minute when Pigott superbly headed a left-wing free-kick from Ben Coker in to the bottom left-hand corner of the net.Southend captain John White headed Coker's right-wing corner against the left post on the stroke of half-time as Phil Brown's men looked like inflicting a thrashing on their visitors.However, the Shrimpers rarely threatened after the break and it was Cheltenham who came closest to scoring with a header from Matt Taylor which was cleared off the line by Michael Timlin.