Southend’s hopes of reaching the National League play-offs continued to fade after they slumped to their seventh consecutive defeat – 1-0 at Dorking.

Seb Bowerman’s 30th-minute strike gave the home side their second successive win as they built on Saturday’s victory over Maidenhead with a dominant display.

Bowerman powered home the opener from a cross by James McShane and the visitors managed to summon little in response as the hosts took a narrow lead into the interval.

Shrimpers goalkeeper Collin Andeng-Ndi kept his side in with a chance in the second half after pulling off fine saves to deny both Josh Taylor and Bowerman.

But the visitors seldom looked like breaking their losing streak and fell further away from the play-off places after another below-par display.