SOUTHEND United were unable to banish their Wembley blues at Rochdale tonight, as they suffered a disappointing 4-2 defeat at Rochdale.

Just three days after losing in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final to Crewe Alexandra, Blues were easily brushed aside again.

And the out of the form Blues have now not won in their last seven outings.

Rochdale were by far the superior side at Spotland and, with five minues on the clock, the dangerous Bobby Grant saw a well struck left footed shot from 25 yards tipped around the right post by Blues goalkeeper Paul Smith.

But the visitors soon came close to scoring themselves when recalled striker Barry Corr blocked an attempted defensive clearance from Shane Cansdell-Sherriff before seeing a shot well blocked by Dale keeper Josh Lillis.

However, after surviving that scare, the home-side opened the scoring in the 34th minute, with Michael Rose converting a fine free-kick from 25 yards.

Rose also won the set-piece, after Marc Laird was harshly adjudged to have brought him down just outside the penalty area.

But Rose made the most of the opportunity and fired a fantastic low shot in to the bottom right hand corner of the net.

Blues then came close to levelling when Corr had a goalbound effort blocked by Phil Edwards after Sean Clohessy’s right wing cross had fallen down in to the path of the striker.

The Irishman felt his effort struck the hand of the defender but referee Craig Pawson waved away the Shrimpers’ shouts for a penalty.

Rochdale soon almost doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time when George Donnelly raced clean through on goal, but his low shot was blocked by the outstretched right leg of Smith.

That miss increased in significance just 53 seconds after the break when Blues equalised, through Mark Phillips.

The centre-back, who came back in to the team after being dropped for Sunday’s JPT final against Crewe, connected well with Kevan Hurst’s left wing free-kick and headed the ball in to the bottom right hand corner of the net.

But Blues were level for just five minutes as George Donnelly was allowed far too much time and space on the right flank and his inswinging left wing cross picked out an unmarked Grant who headed in to the bottom left hand corner of the net from six yards.

Southend boss Phil Brown responded by making his first substitution of the night in the 66th minute as Gavin Tomlin came on to replace Ben Reeves.

However, Rochdale remained on top and almost doubled their lead when Ashley Grimes had a low shot smartly saved by Smith down to his right hand side.

The Blues shot stopper then also smothered a deflected long range effort from Grant but, with 70 minutes on the clock, the visitors came came agonisingly close to equalising for a second time when Corr headed Hurst’s right wing cross against the right post.

That proved to be a decisive moment of the match as, just four minutes later, Dale extended their lead in stunning fashion when Grant cut in off the right flank and curled a fantastic 20 yard shot in to the top left hand corner of the net.

Things then got even worse for Blues as Dale soon made it 4-1 as Grimes dispossessed Ryan Cresswell and confidently strode forward before firing past Smith from 12 yards.

With the home-side continuing to push forward, Grant then had a powerful shot tipped over the crossbar by Smith but the Shrimpers did manage a last gasp consolation when Corr headed home a right wing corner from substitute Freddy Eastwood.

However, by then the damage had already been done as Rochdale secured a third successive victory for the first time this season to move level on points with Southend.