Southend United midfielder Mark Gower insisted his shocking second half miss was to blame for Blues undeserved 2-1 defeat against Wycombe Wanderers at Roots Hall on Saturday.

The former Barnet winger failed to convert a simple ten yard shot just seven minutes after Mark Bentley had headed the hard-working home-side into the lead.

And Gower confirmed he should have helped the Seasiders secure their third successive victory with his first goal of the season.

"I should have scored -- I know that," said Gower. "Mark Bentley flicked the ball onto me and I saw the defender dive in for the ball. I was in two minds about whether to cut in or not but in the end I decided to shoot and it just screwed off my foot.

"I know I should have done better though and it proved to be a costly mistake because at 2-0 the game would have been dead and buried -- we would have killed them off for sure."

Following Gower's miss Nathan Tyson and Danny Senda hit home well-taken efforts for the table topping Wanderers, leaving the sorry Seasiders stunned as they dropped down to 18th in the League Two standings.

"We're very, very disappointed because we had the chances to carry on our recent run and get in a nice league position," said Gower.

Published Monday September 13, 2004

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