League 1 Match 28 - Exeter 1 Southampton 1

Pards and Cortese discuss recent away results

It had been a quiet week… we’d actually had a whole week off and there had been little to keep us Saints fans occupied other than the complete comedy from the other end of the M27. It was oh so quiet from St Mary’s with just news of ticket sales and next years shirt not having a sponsor for aesthetic reasons only... to break the slumber. Good times.

The Exeter away game was upon us and Pards had been stressing that the players were only thinking of this game and not the two cup games against the Fake Dons and the Brothel Botherers. It’s a good job the players were on the ball because the fans seem obsessed with the cup games, especially the second one for some reason. Everyone was available for today as James and Lallana returned from injury to replace Wotton and Homes. Papa Waigo, fresh from his match turning performance last week, started instead of Barnard and a debut was given to Jason Puncheon with Antonio dropping to the bench. We started 4-5-1 with Puncheon in the central midfield three.

Personally I had a choice for today – take time out from entertaining my kids and listen to the commentary from Diamond Dave Merrington and the other clown on Solent or entertain the kids and watch the England v Wales Rugby at 5pm. Bearing in mind that a lot of my extended family are from the wrong side of the Severn Bridge, and that I wanted to know what I was talking about when I rang them up to gloat afterwards, I decided with the latter. Of course, I tried to sneak a bit of radio as well…

As the game started it became apparent that while Exeter’s team has moved up two divisions in two seasons, their pitch is still down in the Conference with sideways and dead bounces being the norm. That said, Saints started well with both Lambert and Waigo having shots blocked. The formation changed meanwhile and Puncheon was pushed up front.

In truth, the first half was all Saints with Exeter not managing an attempt on goal and it was no surprise when following a defensive slip, Adam Lallana controlled well and fired us 1-0 in front. This must have been a relief to Lallana whose goalscoring form had mirrored last season when he scored a load in the first few months and then tailed off completely.

Half time arrived 10 minutes later following a Puncheon shot over the bar, with Saints still 1-0 up and it was of course, time for the half time team talk which would have said something along the lines of pushing on and getting a second goal and finishing them off. Take the game to them lads and don’t give them a sniff etc etc. I’m confident it didn’t say anything along the line of ‘give them a goal and make it interesting’ but that’s what we did as Taylor profited from crap defending of a corner as usual to make it 1-1 just 3 minutes after the restart.

Waigo had produced the usual average performance he produces when he starts an away game and he was unsurprisingly replaced with Antonio just after the hour. Surprisingly, Antonio was pushed up front alongside Sir Rickie with Puncheon moving to the right and his 3rd new position of the match. He was on the move again on 80 minutes when following Thomas coming on for James, Otsemobor moved to right wing and Punch ended up in central midfield.

I’m in the car now on my way to watch the rugby. As the radio comes on I hear the stadium announcer gloriously announcing ‘Substitution for Southampton, Lee Barnard replacing Jon Ostembobbybor’. This was followed by an Exeter shot which deflected and clipped the post. Jesus, sounds like we’re hanging on.

Following the near miss at the other end, the game finished with Saints finally applying a bit of late pressure – a couple of corners, a half shout for a penalty and the final action of the game being Danny Seabourne sticking a foot out and looping an effort just over the bar. Final score 1-1, again.

A while ago we were all laughing along at how we ended up with the same result in every away game in much the same as we are now. Only difference is that the previous time, the score was always 3-1 to us and now it’s a bloody 1-1 draw every time with Saints taking the lead every time and then not completing the job. It’s a bad day today and to be honest, I think the playoff dream got another nail in its coffin today. It’s now 15 points and a game in hand for Swindon. In order to make a significant dent in that deficit, we’re going to have to win something like 8 out of the next 10 and we’ve stopped winning away from home.

I still feel that Pards is mixing and matching a bit with the selection with the Cup games coming up. Hopefully when this week is over we’ll still be in the Cups but also, we’ll be able to get to somewhere near a settled side and kick on. I’d certainly like to see Jaidi and Harding back in the side and probably Thomas at right back as well. When Jaidi and Trotman were at centre back, we stopped letting in set piece goals and now we’ve started again. Jaidi is the best header of a ball at the club and should be playing in the league, in every game he is physically able. Also, Dean Hammond is becoming a better and better player with every game he misses through injury.

Anyhow, now it’s the Cup games. First up it’s the Fake Dons and sadly, my seat will be occupied by my Mum as I have to work due to impending unemployment and a need to milk every last cent. It should be a near 30,000 crowd and we should have enough about us to make it through to Wembley. Remember that when you’re feeling pissed off about today’s result.