KENNY Coker bagged an injury time equaliser for Southend United’s under-18 side at Gillingham - but Blues coach Danny Heath felt his team deserved more than a point.

The young Shrimpers wasted a number of chances to score in the 2-2 draw.

And Heath was disappointed Blues had to settle for a share of the spoils.

“The boys played really well and totally dominated the game in truth,” said Heath.

“We could’ve been four or five up in the first 15 minutes and the game should have been put to bed early doors really.

“But we didn’t take the chances and we found ourselves 2-1 down going into the last 10 minutes.

“The boys persevered though, they didn’t give up and got something from the game which they deserved.

“But the performance probably deserved more than just the one point.”

And Heath is urging his young players to start picking up the points their performances deserve.

“In terms of the boys’ development performances are important but they have to start making them count by getting the points they deserve,” said Heath.

“The performance was very good but we should have won.”

Blues were on top early on and opened the scoring in the 16th minute when Ahmet Biler’s corner caused panic in the Gillingham penalty area.

The ball ricocheted around and eventually dropped over the goal-line, with defender Ergis Shala celebrating the final touch.

But, shortly after the half-hour mark, Gillingham restored parity when Toby Bancroft sprinted clear of the Blues back-line before smashing a shot into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.

Bancroft then fired the Gills in front and the Kent club stayed in front until injury time, when Coker came to the Shrimpers’ rescue.

The youngster came on having scored twice in an under-16 game on an adjacent pitch and completed an unusual hat-trick by firing home after Tommy Davis had knocked down another set piece delivery from Biler.

Southend United: Taylor, Davis, Biler, Brogan (K Coker 75), Wallace, Shala, Arrowsmith (Crowhurst 81), Brown, Adedoja, Lambourne, Unwin