Barry Conlon finally ended his six-month Roots Hall goal drought on Saturday during Blues' impressive 2-0 win over Swansea City.

The Republic of Ireland under-21 hitman, who joined the Shrimpers from Manchester City for £90,000 in September, had failed to find the net in his ten previous Roots Hall outings.

However, the 20-year-old broke his duck with four minutes remaining of this pulsating encounter by stroking the ball home to cap a superb performance which saw him tee up a first-half opener for home debutant Neville Roach.

"You'll never know how relieved I am because I honestly believed that I was destined never to score at Roots Hall," said Conlon, whose previous three goals this season have all been scored on opposition territory.

"It's been a long time coming, but I can tell you the feeling I got when the ball crossed the line was well worth the wait."

However, Conlon revealed that he would never have got the chance to score unless he had robbed the ball off his new strike partner Roach.

"Neville was through on goal and I screamed in his ear to leave the ball before nicking it off his toe and shooting it home," Conlon explained, before praising Southend supporters for having patience with him.

"I know some of them have been frustrated with some of my performances, which they've had every right to be, but I feel that I've hit a bit of form now and hopefully I can repay them."

Roach, who enjoyed an impressive start to life at Roots Hall following his £30,000 switch from Second Division Reading last week, was more than happy to help out Conlon.

"I'm really happy for Barry, despite him shouting in my ear, because he's a good player and I'm confident we can do very well together," said the 20-year-old.

"I can feed off Barry because he is a great passer of the ball and strong in the air and if he keeps picking out my runs I'm sure we'll strike up a healthy goalscoring partnership.

"It was a great home debut for me and I'm determined to continue in the same vein."

"My confidence is gradually coming back following a rough time at Reading and I can get even better once I've sharpened up by getting a few more games under my belt."

Blues boss Alvin Martin paid tribute to his players' performance before explaining his decision to drop keeper Martyn Margetson before kick-off in favour of Mel Capleton.

"Leaving Martyn out was the hardest decision I've ever had to make," said the Seasiders chief. "But I don't want people thinking I've done this because I blame Martyn for some of our recent results - because I don't.

"I just felt he was beginning to feel the strain and he could do with a rest."

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