Simon Cox strikes late winner as Southend see off Rochdale

Simon Cox's last-gasp winner handed Southend United a dramatic 2-1 victory over Rochdale in a match that both sides ended with 10 men at Roots Hall.The Shrimpers were initially on top and opened the scoring in the 15th minute when Jermaine McGlashan played in Marc-Antoine Fortune, who rounded the advancing Conrad Logan before tapping home.Dale suffered a further blow in the 22nd minute when centre-back Keith Keane was sent off for bringing down Fortune when he was clean through on goal.Southend midfielder Anthony Wordsworth slammed the resulting free-kick against the crossbar before the Shrimpers were also reduced to 10 men in the 34th minute when McGlashan was shown a second yellow card after bringing down Ian Henderson.Rochdale improved after the break with Calvin Andrew wasting two headers and Jamie Allen having a long-range shot saved by Ted Smith.Dale equalised in the 66th minute when Andrew cut in off the right-hand side and netted with a deflected left-footed shot which looped into the top left-hand corner of the net.But Southend struck back to secure all three points when Cox netted a brilliant left-footed shot from eight yards.