DARLINGTON'S array of talent from the Premiership may have opposing fans flocking to the ticket office, but it would seem David Hodgson is paying the price for assembling the kind of team everybody wants to beat.

Few Quakers fans will have been able to envisage that the likes of Craig Hignett and Alun Armstrong would pull on the black and white jersey when 12 months ago the club's future hung by a thread.

But in coming out of administration in September, Hodgson has cut few corners in ensuring that Quakers are the draw of League Two.

A far cry from Real Madrid's 'Galacticos' they may be, but at this level Quakers' squad of former top flight stars have been forced to come to terms with the fact that other so-called lesser sides will inevitably raise their game.

There was nothing lesser about Southend United at the weekend.

In front of their biggest gate of the season - 7,358 - the town which boasts the country's longest pier stretched Quakers even further with a ruthless display from the first minute until the last.

"When you look at our teamsheet people want to come and watch them," said assistant manager Mark Proctor. "It might have a detrimental effect on the opposition's approach and might lift them, but that's something we have to deal with."

Perhaps the only surprise was that it took until the 77th minute for the home side to break down the Quakers defence.

Without the presence of returning skipper Craig Liddle the floodgates may have opened a lot sooner.

In stark contrast to October when an Armstrong-inspired hat-trick helped Quakers to a 4-0 win over the Shrimpers, Steve Tilson's men looked a different proposition this time around.

In terms of starting XI's there was little difference - Southend making three changes and Quakers making just two from their previous encounter.

And while Hodgson's men cannot be faulted for the commitment they showed throughout, Southend had 11 players performing, while Quakers didn't.

"I thought we were very poor in the first half and second best right across the park," said Proctor.

"They were a lot quicker and sharper than us and looked up for it, while we looked surprisingly tentative.

"On the back of five games unbeaten it was a very disappointing performance.

"We underachieved and too many people weren't quite performing to the maximum.

"On a day like today we really needed everybody at the races."

After a five-match unbeaten start to 2005 - their best start to a year since 1967 - Proctor is prepared to accept that Quakers can afford the odd blip along the way and a 2-0 defeat at Southend won't be seen as a major setback.

But with sides around them holding the ace cards with games in hand, Proctor admits Quakers can ill-afford to fall further behind the promotion pack with 16 games to go.

Quakers make their second trip in a week when they travel to lowly Bury on Saturday and Proctor said: "The idea is to consolidate in that top seven and be able to remain there even after a defeat.

"It's a disappointing day, but we're on the back of five unbeaten and we need to get back to normal at Bury next week and hopefully start another run."

Given the lengthy coach journey back to the North-East on Saturday night, Proctor and Hodgson would have had enough time to carry out a post-match inquest.

The decision to move Adolfo Gregorio out wide and draft Ryan Valentine into central midfield was the main topic of conversation among the 232 travelling fans.

However, Proctor justified the move, saying: "Craig Hignett dropped back in to midfield so we decided to change the shape a little bit.

"We normally play with two offensive midfield players off Higgy, so we decided to go with two sitting midfielders with Neil Maddison and Ryan Valentine. That gave Higgy a bit of freedom and took away his defensive responsibilities.

"You can look at it from all sorts of angles, the bottom line was too many people didn't perform on the day."

In front of a vocal home support Southend signalled their intentions early on with Lawrie Dudfield and Kevin Maher both testing the reflexes of keeper Sam Russell.

With 21 minutes played Armstrong escaped the attentions of Che Wilson down the left before firing a shot low at Darryl Flahavan, who could only spill wide.

And after Mark Bentley headed straight at Russell, Liddle flung himself at the ball twice to deny Maher getting a shot at goal and ensure Quakers went in at half-time with a clean sheet intact.

The back three of Liddle, Matt Clarke and Brian Close continued to frustrate the home side after the interval as Carl Pettefer's 50th minute minute drive was charged down.

Against the run of play Armstrong came within inches of giving Quakers an unlikely lead when he narrowly missed substitute Chris Hughes' drive across the face of goal.

And just a minute later Hodgson was sent to the stands after an angry exchange of words with opposite number, Tilson.

Typically, the Quakers boss was not afraid to let his feelings be known when Liddle was hacked down by Wayne Gray.

After the fourth official alerted referee Andy Penn, Hodgson was sent off for the second time in the space of a fortnight - after his dismissal at Northampton - for foul and abusive language.

Hodgson was sat at the back of the Sixfields stand when Quakers conceded a late equaliser. And he was just as helpless this time around when Bentley finally broke the deadlock in the 77th minute.

Substitute Freddy Eastwood skilfully moved the ball past Liddle on the edge of the area, before squaring for Bentley, who slotted the ball past Russell.

Eastwood compounded Quakers' misery when he added a second in injury time, prompting Hodgson to leave his seat and head for the dressing room.

Result: Southend United 2 Darlington 0.

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