Aldershot Town crashed to a 4-1 defeat at Southend United in the National League.

The Shots suffered defeat at Roots Hall after a red card saw their ten men unable to keep hold of a 1-0 half-time lead.

Aldershot took the lead in the 18th minute.

Tyler Frost played the ball to Lorent Tolaj and Tolaj’s effort was blocked, but Josh Stokes tucked the loose ball into the bottom corner on the rebound.

Tolaj then rattled the crossbar with a fierce effort, with the rebound again falling to Stokes who miscued his connection and the ball went harmlessly wide.

The opening five minutes of the second half did not go in the favour of the Shots.

Aldershot found themselves down to ten men and back on level terms within a minute of each other.

Danny Waldron was brought down outside the area by Rollin Menayese. The foul was deemed to have denied a goalscoring opportunity and Menayese received a straight red card.

From the resulting free-kick Jack Bridge’s low effort was not gathered by Jordi van Stappershoef and Harry Cardwell reacted quickest to score from close range.

Southend found themselves in front just five minutes later. James Morton’s cross from the left found Ollie Kensdale in space at the far post for an easy finish.

The Shots fell further behind in stoppage time.

Jack Wood beat a couple of Aldershot defenders and finished calmly to make it 3-1 in the 93rd minute.

Marcus Dackers made it 4-1 in the 96th minute when his powerful effort hit the underside of the bar before finding the back of the net.

Samuel Carter