Southend United After 10 Matches: Goals, Comebacks and a Warning Against Barrow
Six wins, 20 points and 25 goals represent an excellent start for Kieron Dyer’s Southend United. But the opening ten matches have revealed questions as well as strengths.
Ten matches into Kieron Dyer’s first National League season in charge, Southend United have won six, drawn two and lost two. They have scored 25 goals, collected 20 points and remain unbeaten away from home.
Those figures tell the story of an excellent start. They do not tell all of it.
Southend have produced a remarkable comeback against Yeovil, escaped Carlisle with a point after spending much of the match under pressure, and scored six times before half-time at Gateshead. They have also lost twice at Roots Hall, most recently when Barrow scored four second-half goals in a 4–2 defeat for The Shrimpers.
After ten games, we have seen a side capable of thrilling attacking football and dramatic recoveries. The next step is to produce that quality more consistently across a full match.
The first ten at a glance
| Statistic | Southend United |
|---|---|
| Played | 10 |
| Won | 6 |
| Drawn | 2 |
| Lost | 2 |
| Points | 20 |
| Goals scored | 25 |
| Goals conceded | 16 |
| Goal difference | +9 |
| Goals scored per match | 2.5 |
| Clean sheets | 1 |
| Matches in which Southend scored | 10 of 10 |
The most striking attacking statistic is that last one. Whatever difficulties Southend have encountered, they have found the net in every league fixture so far.
Match by match
| Date | Fixture | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 Aug | Altrincham v Southend | W 1–3 | 2,403 |
| 15 Aug | Southend v Scunthorpe | W 1–0 | 8,613 |
| 22 Aug | Solihull Moors v Southend | W 1–3 | 1,231 |
| 28 Aug | Southend v Kidderminster | L 1–3 | 9,155 |
| 31 Aug | Woking v Southend | D 1–1 | 3,583 |
| 5 Sep | Southend v Yeovil | W 3–2 | 8,246 |
| 12 Sep | Carlisle v Southend | D 2–2 | 7,126 |
| 15 Sep | Southend v Tamworth | W 3–1 | 7,328 |
| 19 Sep | Gateshead v Southend | W 1–6 | 838 |
| 26 Sep | Southend v Barrow | L 2–4 | 8,781 |
Results are displayed with the home team first. Attendances are the total crowd at each match, not the number of Southend supporters.
The away record stands out
Southend have played five league matches away from Roots Hall and have yet to lose one.
They won at Altrincham and Solihull, drew at Woking and Carlisle, then produced the extraordinary 6–1 victory at Gateshead. That is 11 points from 15, with 15 goals scored and six conceded on the road.
It has not been five versions of the same performance. The opening-day win at Altrincham set an encouraging tone. Carlisle demanded resilience when Southend were second best for long periods. Gateshead showed what can happen when The Shrimpers take their chances and play with confidence.
At Roots Hall
Played: 5
Record: 3 wins, 0 draws, 2 defeats
Goals: 10 scored, 10 conceded
Points: 9 from 15
Away from home
Played: 5
Record: 3 wins, 2 draws, 0 defeats
Goals: 15 scored, 6 conceded
Points: 11 from 15
At home, Scunthorpe, Yeovil and Tamworth were beaten, while Kidderminster and Barrow both left with three points. That contrast is one of the clearest themes of the opening ten matches. Southend’s away form has been excellent. Their home performances have supplied both some of the season’s best moments and its two sharpest setbacks.
Roots Hall continues to turn out
42,123 supporters attended Southend’s first five home league matches, an average of 8,425 per match when rounded to the nearest whole supporter.
The largest crowd so far was 9,155 against Kidderminster Harriers on a Friday night. Even the lowest home attendance of the five, 7,328 against Tamworth on a Tuesday evening, demonstrates the level of support behind Dyer’s side.
Across all ten fixtures, the combined recorded match attendances total 57,304. That figure includes supporters of both clubs at every ground and is not a Southend away-following total.
Southend supporters on the road: The recorded away followings were 801 at Altrincham, 840 at Solihull, 895 at Woking, 386 at Carlisle and 423 at Gateshead. That is 3,345 Southend supporters across the first five away matches.
Who has scored the goals?
| Southend player | League goals |
|---|---|
| Leon Chambers-Parillon | 6 |
| Sam Austin | 4 |
| Harry Cardwell | 4 |
| Oli Coker | 2 |
| Josh Popoola | 2 |
| Promise Omochere | 2 |
| Kyle McAdam | 2 |
| Charley Kendall | 1 |
| Darren Oldaker | 1 |
| Ryan Colclough | 1 |
Chambers-Parillon leads the way with six. His equaliser against Yeovil was part of Southend’s comeback from two goals down; he also scored in the late fightback at Carlisle and gave The Shrimpers brief hope against Barrow.
Austin’s hat-trick at Gateshead was the individual attacking performance of the first ten matches. Cardwell scored twice in the same game, although his availability for the upcoming Eastleigh fixture remains unclear at the time of writing.
The spread of scorers matters. Ten Southend players have contributed a league goal, giving Dyer more than one route to finding the net.
The matches that have shaped the start
Yeovil at Roots Hall: the comeback
Two goals behind shortly before the hour, Southend came back through Darren Oldaker, Chambers-Parillon and debutant Omochere to win 3–2. It remains the clearest example of this squad’s ability to change a match that looked to be slipping away.
Carlisle away: a point rescued
Carlisle created enough opportunities to put the contest beyond Southend, yet late goals from Chambers-Parillon and McAdam briefly turned a likely defeat into a possible victory. A stoppage-time equaliser made it 2–2, leaving The Shrimpers with a point they had worked hard to rescue.
Gateshead away: six before the break
Six Southend goals arrived before half-time in the most emphatic performance of Dyer’s opening ten matches. Austin scored a hat-trick, Cardwell struck twice and McAdam also found the net.
Barrow at home: a warning
Southend missed opportunities in the first half, conceded four times after the interval and could not turn two goals of their own into a recovery. It was a reminder that scoring regularly will not always be enough if opponents are allowed to take control.
The Shrimpers-online view
Twenty points from ten matches is an excellent return. Southend are unbeaten away, average two and a half goals a game and have scored in every fixture. Supporters have already seen enough character and attacking quality to believe this can be an exciting season.
There are also questions worth asking. Southend have conceded 16 goals, kept just one clean sheet, and both defeats have come at Roots Hall. Against Carlisle they needed a late rescue after a difficult performance; against Barrow, a promising opening half did not become a result.
That is what makes the next stretch interesting.
The first ten games have shown what The Shrimpers can do. Now Dyer’s challenge is to make the best of those performances the standard, while ensuring afternoons like Barrow remain exceptions.
Six wins. Twenty points. Twenty-five goals. An unbeaten away record.
It is a start with plenty to admire — and plenty still to learn about this Southend United side.
Statistics cover Southend United’s first ten Enterprise National League matches of 2026/27, up to and including the home fixture against Barrow on 26 September 2026.
