As i made my way towards the ground there was a fear that we could be embarresed by  a Swansea team currently sitting ontop of the Coca Cola league 2 table and with Southend sitting in 12th it looked very possible.

I brought my programme from outside the west stand and made my way inside and took my seat to read through the programme it was then i noticed on the team sheet the name Freddy Eastwood. Eastwood had joined us from Grays on loan and not many people knew much about him but in the next 90 minutes we would know a hell of a lot more.

The match got underway and with Wayne Gray running down the left flank the ball was crossed in and met by the head of a certain Freddy Eastwood in no less then 7.7 seconds the whole of Roots Hall was stunned at what they had just witnessed.

Swansea then pulled a goal back on the 11th minute through Paul Connor but on the 42nd minute Spencer Prior jumped above the Swansea defence and put the ball into the net with a bullet of a header.

The 2nd half kicked off and on the 58th minute Eastwood had notched up his 2nd Southend goal in his debut match but 8 minutes before time Adrian Forbes equalised for Swansea and the whole of roots hall thought this match would end 3-2 but Freddy had other idea's.

On the 87th minute Freddy latched onto a superb cross with a diving header to seal his debut hat-trick and also seal his place in Roots Hall and Southend legend forever.

Next Up: Southend v West Ham 2002/2003 pre season

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