A FIRST ever trip to Roots Hall ended in disappointment for a Truro City side beaten 4-0 by Southend United in the FA Trophy.

The basement-dwelling Tinners took a break from National League action, albeit against familiar opposition in the form of the Shrimpers, who were 1-0 winners at The TCS in domestic action back in August.

The Tinners’ ranks showed seven changes from their last outing, a 3-1 defeat at Hartlepool United two weeks prior, as John Askey’s men went on the hunt for a fillip to end a run of seven matches in all competitions without a win.

Zac Bell and Max Kinsey returned to the starting line-up in front of Aidan Stone, while Dan Rooney, Yassine En-Neyah and Jake Taylor took up midfield berths behind Luke Jephcott.

A rather one-sided first half followed a script composed by the National League standings, with promotion-chasing Southend leaving Truro with precious little opportunity.

Oli Coker had Stone scrambling with a fierce strike from 25 yards that whistled narrowly wide of the mark, with the visiting custodian having Kinsey to thank for not conceding moments later.

The young defender, on a season-long loan from Premier League outfit AFC Bournemouth, was in the right place at the right time to put off Harry Cardwell, who turned the ball over Stone’s crossbar from all of three yards.

However, Cardwell wasn’t to be denied a second time. Coker and Sam Austin complemented each other neatly to set up the striker, who placed the ball confidently beyond Stone.

City reacted with their only real threat of the half – although Cole Deeming’s wayward shot did little to concern Collin Andeng Ndi – yet found themselves further behind thanks to Bridge’s fine finish virtually on the stroke of half-time.

Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain and Lirak Hasani were introduced, in place of Bell and Taylor, as Askey rolled the dice in an attempt to breath life into the Tinners.

The changes went some way to producing the desired outcome as those in white and red occupied far more possession and territory in the second half. However, still, they found themselves unable to find a much-needed breakthrough.

Following some fine defending of their own, Deeming found himself in another good position before shooting wide. Just as it looked like City might be building an assault on the Southend goal, it was they who dealt a telling blow, with JoshWalker pouncing to head past Stone.

Dominic Johnson-Fisher, stretchered off midway through a 3-2 loss to Sutton United last month, made a welcome return to action late on and saw the venom taken out of an effort that deflected into the hands of Andeng Ndi.

Tyler Harvey and Connor Riley-Lowe had also stepped off the bench by the time that Bridge nudged home to complete his brace, despite the best efforts of stand-in captain Tom Harrison.

However, Truro’s main task starts now as they look to use the games in-hand on the sides around them to climb out of the bottom four and secure safety, starting with tomorrow night’s home clash with Wealdstone (7.45pm).

TRURO CITY: Stone, Bell (Oxlade-Chamberlain, 45), Harrison (capt), En-Neyah, Rooney, Jephcott (Harvey, 65), Taylor (Hasani, 45), Law (Riley-Lowe, 78), Kinsey (Johnson-Fisher, 65), Donnellan, Deeming. Subs not used: Lavercombe, Dean.