Southend put their off-field issues aside as they battled to a surprising 4-0 victory over 10-man Oldham.

Shrimpers boss Kevin Maher was only able to register 15 players for their Vanarama National League opener due to a transfer embargo that has been in place since September due to money owed to HMRC.

But they got off to a flying start when Callum Powell managed to squirm an effort in after Oldham struggled to clear their lines from a corner in the eighth minute.

The visitors were reduced to the 10 men in the 57th minute following Will Sutton’s lunge at Nathan Ralph.

Oliver Coker scored just seconds after coming on as a substitute with a 83rd-minute strike from 25 yards before Dan Mooney added to their lead with a calm finish four minutes later.

Southend fans were in dreamland when Coker turned provider as Harry Cardwell nodded home in the sixth of 10 minutes added time for a convincing opening win.