Southend United's player-manager Rob Newman praised his team for a disciplined display after grabbing a late equaliser during last night's 1-1 draw at Cheltenham Town.

Shout to the top -- goalscorer Rob Newman shows his delight as he is congratulated by team-mates Leon Cort, Stephen Broad and Mark Rawle. Picture: LUAN MARSHALL 75EMS4C

The Shrimpers chief got off the mark seven minutes from time to cancel out midfielder Lee Howells' second-half goal for the Robins, lifting Blues up to 13th place in Division Three.

And he said: "Cheltenham are chasing promotion and they are a hard team to play on their own patch, but I thought we got the result we deserved for a disciplined display in atrocious conditions.

"I was very unhappy with the way we conceded three goals in our last match at Swansea, which ended in a 3-2 defeat.

"But we were a lot stronger at the back at Whaddon Road and cleared our lines well under enormous pressure.

"Cheltenham are a big side and with the wind behind them they threw over a lot of dangerous crosses during the first-half.

"And it was disappointing to fall behind so soon after the break, especially as we had weathered the problems caused by the strong wind during the opening period.

"But we kept plugging away and got the equaliser we deserved for our efforts late in the game.

"Overall the lads stood firm and performed excellently, which was the positive reaction I wanted after the game at Swansea when we were punished for being far too sloppy."

And Newman went on to dedicate the draw to the fans who had braved the torrential rain and gales to cheer Blues on last night.

"We had about 400 supporters at Cheltenham and I was made up for them when our goal went in," he said.

"A lot of them had a wasted journey here a few weeks ago when the match was postponed and it was nice to give them a reward. The club subsidised coaches as a thank you to those fans and I'm just glad they had something to cheer about at the end."

And finally, the evergreen Newman, who is still putting in solid performances at the heart of Blues' defence at the age of 38, reflected on his goal.

"It was great for me personally to score as I'd never played at Cheltenham before and it was nice to mark the occasion," he added.

"I've scored 70 or 80 goals now and hopefully there might be a couple more in the locker before I hang my boots up for good!"

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Published Wednesday, February 20, 2002