Whing did not win it for Brackley V Southend.

This week Brackley Town finally appointed their new manager, Andy Whing.

Today, they took on 8th placed Southend under his new leadership.

Brackley flag greet to new manager Andy Whing before today’s match with Southend

Packed away end full of Southend fans

The match got off to a bit of a nervous start for Brackley with most of the early shots and chances coming from Southend in the opening quarter.

With a large away Southend following, they were more also more vocal and dominant off pitch compared to occasional drum from the sole drummer in the Brackley home end.

Brackley have done well this season consolidating their position in the lower half of the National League, after winning promotion last season. Losing their manager, Gavin Cowan, to Shrewsbury has been a big kick in the guts for BTFC who have seen nothing but success under his helm. A good result today for Brackley would have indicated there might be no need to panic, and a good replacement in Whing found.

The second quarter was relatively inactive compared to the first but still Southend were looking the better side with more of the play and Brackley creating only a handful of opportunities. A big chance came in the 24th min, when they earnt a corner. The corner kick went high but failed to connect with anybody leaving Brackley wanting as the match moved towards its closure of the first half.

Still the Southend players kept coming into the Brackley box and things were continuing to look dangerous but the Brackley defence kept solid and resolute, pushing away a Southend corner in the 27th. Southend were maintaining a lot of possession of the ball and Brackley spent large amounts of time having to chase it.

One of the continual Southend runs at goal seriously got through in the 40th min and was only just saved thanks again to the solid Brackley defence and the goal keeper.

The 0-0 score line started to have its effect with Brackley having to make a substitution following a foul and Brackley receiving their first yellow card following a foul of their own in the 44th.

In the very closing stage of the first half, there were two mouth scrambles in the Brackley box which very nearly came close to putting Southend in front. If Brackley could win more possession then one could not help feeling that the match could turn more their way. However, in the final quarter, it didn’t and Brackley went into the changing rooms with a lot to contemplate .

Would Whing’s first half time pep talk to his new set of players do the trick?

In the second half, Brackley desperately needed to win more possession. In the first quarter of the second half it did not appear that Wingh had managed to have much impact/ influence on how the match was going to go. As the rain started to come down, the attacking Southend play on the pitch continued and things started to look more and more depressing for Brackley.

In the 55th,Newton tried to set things on fire with a brilliant penetrating run down the left wing for Brackley but nothing came of it as the Southend goalie went down injured following a brave save.

Cries of 'yellow' kept coming from the packed Southend end as they tried to urge on their players to score and get the three points. By the end of the first quarter of the second half, Southend still had most of the play. Whoever scored first and that most likely looked to be Southend, would probably win the match.

With an easing off of the rain in the 65th, would Brackley’s play step up?.

Up to this point there seemed to be little evidence on the pitch that Whing was having much impact. The ball by the end of the second quarter was mostly in the Brackley end and their defenders were being kept very busy. The only promising hope for Brackley was another run down the left wing by Newton but it soon petered out. Southend got a corner in the 67th but there was no one there to finish the good corner kick taken.

If Southend failed to capitalise on their domination of play then it would be a good result for Brackley and a credit to their good defending.

By the start of the final quarter, Brackley were warming up and bringing on substitutes to try and change the outcome of the game. But it was all no avail as the Southend play continued to be one of more possession and dominance. The main criticism of Southend was that they were unable to capitalise on it earlier enough.

The inadequate play on the pitch had started to silence the Brackley supporters 'Can you hear the Brackley sing I cant hear a thing?’ one supporter shouted out from the side stand close to the home end. Support your team', he kept chanting.

Finally in the 81st minute, the strong Brackley defence buckled and Brackley went up one nil. A first goal was bound to be decisive and it opened up the flood gates leading to a Brackley own goal in the 90th minute and another Southend one in the 92nd to make the final result 0-3.

Shrewsbury had won 2-0 under Cowan and Brackley had lost 0-3 under Whing. Whing did not win it for Brackley today but it is still very early days and there is plenty of time left to show what he can do for Brackley, now that Gavin Cowan has departed.