Football: Birmingham veto upsets Fry

Southend United. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0

Leicester City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0

TWO confrontations dominated yesterday's proceedings at Roots Hall, where Southend had to be satisfied with a point that lifts them to third place in the First Division from a match that was 70 minutes of tedium followed by 20 minutes of mayhem.

The first man-to-man incident was familiar, in that it involved Leicester's fractious striker David Speedie, whose late tackle on Derek Payne eight minutes from time provoked the Southend man into retaliatory action, for which he was sent off.

The second was bizarre, taking place during a post-match television interview with Southend manager Barry Fry. Fry wants to talk to Birmingham City, who have made an informal approach to him over the manager's job following Terry Cooper's resignation. His chairman at Southend, Vic Jobson, does not want him to go and points out he is under contract.

Fry intends to consult the League Managers' Association. 'I'm very happy at Southend,' he said, 'but much as I would love them to be a giant, it won't happen.'

If there is a question over Fry's departure, there was none over that of Payne - although the exact nature of his offence was unclear.

Speedie, who was booked, certainly appeared to make the most of his open-handed swipe.

But the defeat of rivals Crystal Palace gave Southend cause for overall satisfaction, and for their man of the match, Chris Powell, there was an added delight - an assortment of variously flavoured and coloured condoms presented by the South Essex Health Authority, sponsoring the match as what they termed the climax to their world AIDS day campaign.

Southend United (4-4-2): Sansome; Poole, Edwards, Bressington, Powell; Gridelet, Hunt, Payne, Otto; Jones (Mooney, 65), Angell (Lee, 65). Substitute not used: Royce (gk).

Leicester City (4-4-2): Ward; Grayson, Carey, Whitton, Lewis; Mills, Agnew, Thompson, Philpott; Speedie (Gee, 83), Roberts. Substitutes not used: Coatsworth, Poole (gk).

Referee: P Don (Hanworth Park).