Southend struck twice in the space of six minutes to beat Brighton 2-0 at home and rekindle their slender hopes of automatic promotion.The Shrimpers consolidated their place in the League One play-off places and all but extinguished any hope the Seagulls had of forcing their way into the top six with a solid performance at Roots Hall.

The visitors started brightly and Darryl Flahavan had to be alert to thwart Glenn Murray's effort from the edge of the area but their optimism was dealt a heavy blow in the 23rd minute when Mark Gower smashed home the opener for Southend.

Gower controlled defender Simon Francis' lofted ball before unleashing a thunderous drive from 20 yards that left Seagulls keeper Michel Kuipers with little chance.

That goal galvanised the home side and they were soon 2-0 up when, six minutes later, Lee Barnard's effort had Kuipers at full stretch before Gower fed Adam Barrett who made no mistake by rasping home from the left-side of the area in the 29th minute.

The Seagulls tried their best to get back into the match but shots from Murray and Nicky Forster at the start of the second half only found Flahavan in fine form. But as the second half developed, the home side began to take control once more with Nicky Bailey twice being denied by Kuipers.

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