Donovan Ricketts is that laid back he is almost horizontal.

It takes a lot to get City's gentle giant worked up.

Ricketts likes to play his football with a smile on his face, not a scowl.

So it must be something dramatic to make the big Jamaican snap.

I've heard the allegations about what was shouted. If they are true, then his anger would be understandable.

Football no longer occupies the dark ages of the early 1970s when black players had to contend with outrageous abuse.

Thankfully allegations like Saturday's are rare. But once is once too often - this should not happen any more.

A "supporter" was arrested for a public order offence and punishment may follow. Ricketts, though, was banished straight away for reacting by celebrating City's goal.

Players have to learn to bite their tongues when they hear choice remarks. There will always be morons who want to have a pop and it comes with the territory.

But at Roots Hall, surely the line was crossed.

Then again, Ricketts maintains his response was simply to indicate to his abuser that City had scored.

"He is such a mild-mannered man," said Colin Todd. "I've never even heard Donovan swear in all the time he has been at the club.

"His reaction was no different to a goal-scorer

celebrating a goal. Considering the racist tones he had put up with, it is totally unacceptable that he should then be sent off for it."

In football terms, City were suddenly reduced to ten men ten minutes before half-time in a game they had been bossing.

Steve Schumacher, playing his best football for months, had just rifled home his first goal of the season with a sweet left-footer and everything was set fair for a second away win in a week.

Dean Windass had already headed against the bar amid a flurry of chances. Southend, after two shots in the opening two minutes, were creating nothing.

The script was ripped up once referee Paul Armstrong brandished his red card.

If that was bad enough for the Bantams, Armstrong was soon directing Todd to the stand after an argument with fourth official Simon Beck as he tried to get substitute Lewis Emanuel on.

City's afternoon was in danger of rapidly disintegrating.

They had another keeper to hand but Russell Howarth was only a spectator. The back-up to Ricketts had not been included in the 16, leaving City without a specialist replacement. Windass

willingly took over between the sticks and Southend must have fancied their chances. For their own stopper Darryl Flahavan, who still claims the Bantams hitman took a bite out of him at Valley Parade, this was surely payback time.

Windass admitted before the game that some in the dressing room are now calling him Peter Crouch because of his nine-game scoring drought in the league. Maybe his new nickname should be Deano Zoff.

Windass had not put on the gloves since school. Even though he claims to have been a good keeper back in the fourth form, that was a long time ago.

So when Mark Gower curled a free-kick into the top corner in the final minute of first-half stoppage time, exploiting the absence of a 6ft 7in stopper, Southend must have sensed blood.

But City don't have the best defensive record in League One for nothing. This lot do not roll over for anyone.

The second half called for guts, determination and bottle and the visitors delivered as Southend

floundered against a claret and amber wall.

It was the ultimate team effort to prevent the home side getting a clean shot at the stand-in keeper.

Windass dealt enthusiastically with crosses and coped well under a couple of awkward corners. But the shot count stayed low as his team-mates did him proud.

City switched tactics soon after the break, with Andrew Taylor becoming a third centre half in a five-man backline. Schumacher, Marc Bridge-Wilkinson and sub Tom Kearney eagerly mopped up everything in front of them while Danny Cadamarteri drove himself into the ground as the lone frontman.

Southend had the ball, lots of it, but there was always at least one City opponent in the way. As away confidence grew, so did home frustration.

"Everybody played their part out there," said proud captain David Wetherall. "We knew how tough it would be and we couldn't do too many of the nice things but it was enjoyable at the end.

"Deano probably ran around more than he

normally does at centre forward but he's had a reasonable time of it. He dealt with a few crosses very well but the shots weren't raining down and I can't remember him having too much to do."

Todd added: "People think it's easy going in goal when they play outfield. But you get a truer reflection when they are actually in there, although they protected him very well in the second half. I've a little bit of a problem now because Russell Howarth is frightened of Deano getting his job!

"But we've been in similar situations playing against ten men and we know what it's like. The way we nullified them you could tell by the

reaction of their crowd that it was working.

"Conceding a goal right on half-time could have knocked the wind out of us but we regrouped. It's just a shame we couldn't keep 11 on the park because I think we would have won it comfortably."

Windass, wearing the club's No 50 "blood" shirt, gathered one half-hit drive from Freddy Eastwood. But that was the only occasion Southend's much-admired hitman threatened his rival.

The best chance to break the second-half stalemate, in fact, fell to City in a rare break. Cadamarteri's lay-off picked out Bridge-Wilkinson following up menacingly and his fierce drive was palmed away by Flahavan.

Southend were reduced to trying hit and hope crosses which the visiting heads dealt with for fun. And Windass was never scared to race off his line, punching clear one corner and then clutching a soft far-post header from Wayne Gray.

"Bradford had to put their danger man in goal and we should have taken advantage of that," rued Southend boss Steve Tilson. "But we didn't put him under any real pressure."

At the final whistle, Todd made his way back on the pitch for a hug with every one of his shattered players. They deserved it for such a gutsy backs-to-the-wall effort.

On an afternoon of high drama, when they must have felt that everything was conspired against them, City won't earn many better points than this.