Wealdstone's under-19s showed resilience to twice fight back and earn a 3-3 draw away to Southend United in the National League Under-19 Alliance Academy South Division. The young Stones fell 2-0 behind early but clawed their way level before a late equaliser from Roman Niculai secured a point.

Southend took a commanding lead within the first 20 minutes through goals from Matthew Blake and Thomas Telford. Wealdstone halved the deficit before half-time when Yasir Massoud fired home a spectacular 20-yard half-volley. Tyler White then forced the ball over the line three minutes after the restart to make it 2-2.

Ronnie Durussel headed Southend back in front from a wind-assisted corner on 69 minutes, but the lead lasted only four minutes. Left-back Niculai cut inside on the edge of the box and squeezed a right-footed shot past goalkeeper Harry Carter to make it 3-3.

Wealdstone's youth team created several chances throughout the match, with White going close to a winner shortly after his goal only to be denied by Carter. Goalkeeper Joel Barfi made a series of important saves for the visitors, including an outstanding stop to deny Max McGovern late on.

Heath demands defensive improvement

Southend head coach Danny Heath was frustrated with his side's performance despite the point. "Three goals should be enough to win games of football," Heath said. "We didn't do enough defensively to stop them scoring, and that's disappointing. Our performance wasn't the best."

He acknowledged Wealdstone's strong second-half display, saying, "You wouldn't have guessed they were playing against the wind in the second half. We didn't use that to our advantage enough."

The draw extends Wealdstone's unbeaten start to the 2026/27 campaign. Heath's side now face a significant test in a fortnight when they travel to face early division leaders Woking. The first team's next challenge is a National League fixture against Bromley this Saturday, where they will look to improve on their current mid-table position. The result leaves Wealdstone's development squad in a strong position as they prepare for their next league outing.