Daggers boss McMahon 'very pleased' with Southend United victory

A brace from Sam Ling and a goal from Mohammed Sagaf helped Daggers get back to winning ways at Victoria Road and push them back up to fifth in the National League table.

“I thought we were excellent from start to finish, we controlled the game for the majority of it, we had a spell after the third goal where I thought Southend had a bit of the play for 10-15 minutes, but we stayed strong and limited them,” McMahon said.

“Overall it was very pleasing.”

The boss always felt the goals were coming before Mohammed Sagaf notched before Sam Ling found the net twice in less than 10 minutes.

“We just asked the players at half-time, we got in some great crossing position, but John White for Southend managed to put himself in great positions so it was about trying to get it in behind him and picking out the right ball.

“I thought we put some excellent crosses in.”

McMahon was also delighted to pick up a clean sheet and was full of praise for Callum Reynolds.

“You just hope when you’re 3-0 up that early in the game that you don’t become sloppy and let them back into the game.

“We were well on top and it was about remaining on top for the whole game. I thought the players performance in terms of professionalism was excellent.

“Callum Reynolds was outstanding for us in the middle of the back three, I think that was probably his best performance.

“We know he can play, but he defended really well, Rhys Murphy for me is one of the best strikers in the division. His movement is really good and if you look at his goals per minute across the last three or four years he has proven that he is top class at this level.

“I thought we handled him really well.”

The former Ebbsfleet manager also praised both sets of fans, by saying: “Definitely, the Southend fans were terrific as well, it’s been a long time since we’ve played them in a league fixture.

"I thought it was an excellent game and a good advert for the division.”