Southend beat 10-man Walsall 2-0 on Saturday thanks to goals from Kevin Betsy and Theo Robinson.
Ricketts dismissal paves the way for comfortable win
Southend beat 10-man Walsall 2-0 thanks to goals from Kevin Betsy and Theo Robinson after Michael Ricketts was shown his third red card of the season.
The visitors suffered a huge blow in the 14th minute when former Southend forward Ricketts was handed a straight red card by referee Rob Styles after he lashed out at Alan McCormack.
But the Shrimpers found the Saddlers' defence a tough nut to crack and did not open the scoring until the 50th minute.
Robinson squared the ball to Betsy as he advanced down the right channel and fired into the bottom left-hand corner from 18 yards.
The hosts made the points safe to end Walsall's six-match winning streak after 72 minutes when Dorian Dervite passed from the right and Robinson smacked a 16-yard shot into the middle of the goal.
Walsall adopted a 4-4-1 formation following Ricketts' dismissal and understandably created little up front, even when manager Chris Hutchings brought on Jabo Ibehre to partner striker Troy Deeney.
