Exeter City have moved back into the League Two automatic promotion places with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Southend United at St James's Park.
John O'Flynn put City into a lead after 43 minutes when he picked up Alan Gow's pass in from the right and hit an excellent shot across Southend keeper Paul Smith and in off the post.
The goal was slightly against the run of play though as Southend had created the better chances in the opening 40 minutes.
Former Grecian Barry Corr came close to opening the scoring on 33 minutes when he sent a header crashing against the crossbar.
Michael Timlin also rattled the home crowd's nerves as he drilled a low effort a foot wide of the post after Artur Krysiak had punched a ball into his path.
However, having taken a lead into the break, it was City who were the better side second half with Alan Gow shooting wide early on.
Gow came more into the match, but he was the victim of a few rough tackles which saw Alex Woodyard and David Martin both receive bookings for Southend.
The Exeter City midfielder was eventually replaced by Kevin Amankwaah with 15 minutes to go. At this point a Southend comeback looked unlikely as, despite only trailing by a goal, they had offered little going forward in the second half to suggest that they could find an equaliser.
So when Bennett sent a looping header, from a Matt Oakley corner, into the top left hand corner of the goal, the match was effectively over with 14 minutes to go.
However, having struggled at home of late, the City players were keen to impress a crowd of 3,971 and pushed for another goal. It was a in form Jimmy Keohane who created it as he went on a good run into the box before feeding a pass to O'Flynn who provided a simple finish.
Exeter City: Krysiak, Tully (Gosling, 86) Woodman, Bennett, Baldwin, Coles, Oakley, Gow (Amankwaah, 75), Davies (Doherty, 67) O'Flynn, Keohane. Substitutes: Evans, Anderson, Reid, Moore-Taylor.
Southend: Smith, Clohessy, Creswell, Phillips, Barker, Hurst, Woodyard (Benyon, 70), Liard (Martin, 30), Timlin, Tomlin, Corr (Harris, 86).
Other League Two scores were as follows: Wimbledon 2 Wycombe 2, Aldershot 2 Accrington 0, Bradford 1 Oxford United 2, Burton Albion 2 Torquay United 1, Cheltenham 1 York City 1, Chesterfield 3 Northampton 0, Dag & Red 2 Rochdale 1, Gillingham 1 Port Vale 2, Plymouth 2 Morcambe 1, Rotherham 0 Barnet 2.
John O'Flynn put City into a lead after 43 minutes when he picked up Alan Gow's pass in from the right and hit an excellent shot across Southend keeper Paul Smith and in off the post.
The goal was slightly against the run of play though as Southend had created the better chances in the opening 40 minutes.
Former Grecian Barry Corr came close to opening the scoring on 33 minutes when he sent a header crashing against the crossbar.
Michael Timlin also rattled the home crowd's nerves as he drilled a low effort a foot wide of the post after Artur Krysiak had punched a ball into his path.
However, having taken a lead into the break, it was City who were the better side second half with Alan Gow shooting wide early on.
Gow came more into the match, but he was the victim of a few rough tackles which saw Alex Woodyard and David Martin both receive bookings for Southend.
The Exeter City midfielder was eventually replaced by Kevin Amankwaah with 15 minutes to go. At this point a Southend comeback looked unlikely as, despite only trailing by a goal, they had offered little going forward in the second half to suggest that they could find an equaliser.
So when Bennett sent a looping header, from a Matt Oakley corner, into the top left hand corner of the goal, the match was effectively over with 14 minutes to go.
However, having struggled at home of late, the City players were keen to impress a crowd of 3,971 and pushed for another goal. It was a in form Jimmy Keohane who created it as he went on a good run into the box before feeding a pass to O'Flynn who provided a simple finish.
Exeter City: Krysiak, Tully (Gosling, 86) Woodman, Bennett, Baldwin, Coles, Oakley, Gow (Amankwaah, 75), Davies (Doherty, 67) O'Flynn, Keohane. Substitutes: Evans, Anderson, Reid, Moore-Taylor.
Southend: Smith, Clohessy, Creswell, Phillips, Barker, Hurst, Woodyard (Benyon, 70), Liard (Martin, 30), Timlin, Tomlin, Corr (Harris, 86).
Other League Two scores were as follows: Wimbledon 2 Wycombe 2, Aldershot 2 Accrington 0, Bradford 1 Oxford United 2, Burton Albion 2 Torquay United 1, Cheltenham 1 York City 1, Chesterfield 3 Northampton 0, Dag & Red 2 Rochdale 1, Gillingham 1 Port Vale 2, Plymouth 2 Morcambe 1, Rotherham 0 Barnet 2.
