Southend 2 Ipswich 4RESULTS mean nothing in pre-season but coming from back from a two-goal deficit to win may mean something.Too often last season Town gave their opponents a goal or two start and that is something boss Joe Royle is determined to eradicate.

RESULTS mean nothing in pre-season but coming from back from a two-goal deficit to win may mean something.

Too often last season Town gave their opponents a goal or two start and that is something boss Joe Royle is determined to eradicate.

He has less than a month to mould his new-look defence into a more solid unit and hope his hit men can keep scoring the sort of goals Ian Westlake, Marcus Bent, Darren Bent and Pablo Counago did last night against Third Division Southend United.

The 565 travelling Town fans saw their first glimpse of Drissa Diallo, who was steady rather than spectacular.

Steven Towers, who played a couple of reserve games for the Blues last season, is still on trial from non-league Oadby Town and looked comfortable.

The name Carlo Nash appeared in the long list of Ipswich players on the team sheet but it was not the Manchester City keeper, rather a mis-print and in fact the highly rated centre-back Gerard Nash, who recently signed a three-year deal.

The error, or someone's mischievous sense of humour, caused a chortle in the Press Box given the Blues' goalkeeping scenario at the moment.

Less funny was the failure by starting keeper Lewis Price to prevent Mark Gower's seventh-minute shot slipping under his body.

Price did do much better later when he tipped a Gower shot on to a post and gathered the rebound.

Triallist keeper Javier Sanchez Broto was not deemed fit enough to start after arriving in England on Monday night after no pre-season training since being released by Celtic last month.

Matteo Sereni was presumably still looking under the sofa for his passport while Andy Marshall was not considered.

Marcus Bent was close when he hit a ball over the top by Fabian Wilnis first time on the volley but the bulky frame of Carl Emberson blocked the effort.

Tes Bramble grabbed the second nine minutes from the break when a Gower shot was blocked by Collins, but the brother of Titus drilled in from 10 yards despite Diallo's efforts.

Town's response was to win a corner taken by Martijn Reuser and played back to Ian Westlake, who hit a terrific right-footed 20-yard shot into Emberson's top-right corner.

Two minutes later Marcus 'anything you can do' Bent hit a scorcher from 25 yards into the same corner with the ex-Colchester United keeper just as beaten.

That 45-minute game ended 2-2 and there was a complete reshuffle at half-time with Town making 10 changes

Ten minutes into the new game Darren Bent finished off a move with a well-taken low shot. And Counago wrapped things up with a powerful downward header from a Nabil Abidallah corner in a fairly ordinary second half.

Starting line-ups

Southend United: Emberson, Jupp, Stuart, Cort, Warren, Adensi, Gower, Maher, Bramble, Broughton and Corbetts. Substitutes: Robinson, Clark, Wilson, Husbands, McSweeney, Jenkins, Plummer and Kightly.

Ipswich Town: Price, Wilnis, Makin, Collins, Diallo, Gaardsoe, Magilton, Westlake, M Bent, Armstrong and Reuser. Second half line-up: Price, Towers, Nash, Naylor, Hogg, Abidallah, Miller, D Bent, Counago, Bowditch and Murray. Substitutes: Morrow, Mitchell.

Referee: Mr Mike Thorpe (Ipswich).

Attendance: 2,567.