Dan Harding scored against his former club in what was one of the most comfortable 1-0 wins you’re ever likely to see to make it 11 wins from the last 12 home games.

Alan Pardew once again named an unchanged lineup, with the squad boosted by the long-awaited return of David Connolly on the bench. Leeds came into the game off the back of a big win at Tranmere in midweek, but that was only their third win this year.

Full report to follow…

Saints have sold out their allocation of just over 44,000 tickets for the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final at Wembley, and disappointment for those who missed out will only increase with the knowledge that there will be 20,000 empty seats.

The remaining 4,000 tickets were sold in the space of a few hours when they went on restricted general sale at 8.30 this morning with the phone lines jammed until the announcement at 1pm that they had all been sold.

It’s likely that many thousands of fans have missed out on the opportunity to attend. While there is certainly an argument that they have had every opportunity to guarantee themselves a ticket buy owning a season ticket or by buying a ticket for either of the legs of the area final against MK Dons, but with Carlisle only expected to sell just over 20,000, that should leave plenty of tickets available.

The FA are likely to come under fire for this situation -  they were the ones who oversaw the building of the new national stadium at about 50% over original budget, and yet there appears to be a lack of scope for incremental segregation of blocks and concourses built into the ground - quite an impressive but equally unsurprising oversight.

You would also have thought that, due to the build cost, they would be looking to recoup as much of that money as possible in the shortest space of time. 20,000 seats at £24 each would give them nearly £500,000 of revenue from ticket sales alone, and that’s before you factor in catering and merchandise sales.

It’s quite a staggering level of incompetence from an organisation that is supposed to have the national game and its fans at heart. The club have attempted on a number of occasions to get the Football League and the FA to reconsider, but it appears that those appeals have fallen on deaf ears.

An impressively abysmal refereeing performance was the main factor in Saints’ first league defeat in 2010 after a dubious late penalty gave Tranmere the three points.

Full report to follow…

Saints sent out a statement of intent with a 5-0 thrashing of playoff contenders Huddersfield Town to suggest that a late bid for the top 6 may not be out of the question. Goals from Rickie Lambert, Lee Barnard, Jason Puncheon, Dean Hammond and Papa Waigo did the damage, and it could have been more.

Full report to follow…

Saints turned in a performance of utter dominance as a brace from Lee Barnard and goals from Jason Puncheon, Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana gave them a 5-1 win over Walsall.

Full report to follow…

Saints were held to a goalless draw in what was quite frankly a terrible game at Adams Park, to leave them 20 points off the playoffs.

Saints made one change to the side that pulled off a 2-0 away win at Norwich at the weekend. With Morgan Schneiderlin missing out with injury, Michail Antonio was brought into the starting eleven; meaning Jason Puncheon was switched from the wing to central midfield in an attacking looking line-up.

The view was just as bad as it looks.

Wycombe started the game the better side and were unfortunate not to score early on. Striker Alex Revell chased a hopeful punt down the wing and his tireless attitude was enough to force Davis off his line to clear. The Saints number one misjudged his rushed headed cleared straight to McLeod though; who sent a lob goalwards. Jaidi momentarily relieved the danger with an interception that only went as far to Jon-Paul Pittman, but the recovering Davis was thankful to save a tame effort.

On a difficult Adams Park surface, both teams struggled with fluency in their passing, but the home side’s tactic to pass it neat and short, particularly down the right hand side was working best as they then looked to utilise Pittman’s pace with a ball over the top – pressure that saw them win a handful of first half corners.

It was from a corner that the home side threatened further to open the scoring. The ball was flicked on to the back post from the set piece and Kevin Betsy turned sharply to hook a volley that was repelled with a great smothering save from close range by Davis.

Given the conditions, and in an away match, it seemed odd that Pardew opted to play the attacking options of Lambert and Barnard upfront with Puncheon, Lallana and Antonio contributing (rarely) from midfield, when they really could have done with more bite in midfield to aid Hammond and combat Wanderers’ energetic approach.

And after seeing just one half chance created in the opening 35 minutes, a glanced header from Barnard that went harmlessly wide, Pardew opted to bring on Wotton in place of Antonio to add more balance to the side.

Still, Wycombe could have gone in at the half time interval with a one goal lead, as Keates broke from midfield and tried his luck with a powerful effort that Davis looked to have covered, but managed to spill through his legs, before eventually atoning to gather at the second attempt.

Half Time: Wycombe Wanderers 0-0 Southampton

The second half started with little risk from either side and no chances of note at all in the first fifteen minutes – in fact there was more entertainment and goalmouth action during the half time break, which involved local youngsters from either side competing in a penalty shoot-out, with some classy celebrations on display.

Unfortunately it looked as though there would be no goal celebrations from any of the senior players, as more chances started to be created, but no finishing touch on offer.

Jason Puncheon’s play for the away side had been slightly predictable for much of the game, as he continuously looked to cut in on his left foot, but the January transfer window signing started to get more involved and after a good run down the right, his teasing cross was too good for Lambert who didn’t connect properly from just a couple of yards.

Wycombe may be in a relegation dogfight, but their performance continued to belie their league position, as they did show glimpses of quality, as well as hard work. With twenty minutes remaining they almost got the goal some of their play had deserved, when Keates launched a ball forward to Pittman who raced onto the ball and hit a great first-time volley, which was denied by an even better save by Davis – tipping the ball onto the crossbar.

Papa Waigo was introduced to the game soon after in place of Barnard and almost made an immediate impact when he passed to Lambert, who in turn found Lallana to the left hand side of box. His eventual shot was curled just inches wide though - after routine neat footwork to set himself up.

And the game looked all set for a draw when Saints at last managed to get a testing shot on target, but were denied by good goalkeeping by Manchester United loan player Tom Heaton. Lambert lined up a free kick from 30 yards and his powerful low effort was kept out as the home side looked determined, that if they weren’t to score themselves, they’d at least hang onto a clean sheet for a vital point in their relegation battle, but a point that didn’t do too much good for Saints’ playoff aspirations.

Full Time: Wycombe Wanderers 0-0 Southampton

A Lee Barnard double - his first goals for the club - gave Saints a massive 2-0 win at league leaders Norwich City.

Guest report by Matt Hemsley:

Saints put in their most complete performance of this season to date to defeat table topping Norwich two nil at a subdued Carrow Road.  It was Paul Lambert’s first defeat in Norwich this season, having led the Colchester side that inflicted the only other home loss on the opening day of the season.

Jaidi kept his place in the back 4, but Saints new signings were all out in force after cup games had forced some to miss out.  Jason Puncheon controlled the play from the right of midfield, with several good touches.  Lee Barnard ran hard all game, playing slightly deeper than Lambert, and started to show what a good player he can be.

Lambert and Barnard both put early half chances over the bar, the latter after good work from Puncheon down the right.  But just after the half hour Saints deservedly broke the deadlock, a Lambert free kick bounced down and out off the bar, and Barnard nodded in to an unguarded net.

Saints continued to dominate possession, and Kelvin Davis had little to do in the Saints goal.  After half time Norwich had perhaps their only 5 minutes on top in the game.  Davis was called upon to make one brilliant save, after a deflected 30 yard shot threatened to loop into the top of the net.  He brilliantly tipped onto the bar.  Davis showing how important he is to the side’s success.

Puncheon wasted a great opportunity when put through one-on-one.  He attempted to round the ‘keeper rather than shoot, and was denied.

Darel Russell was sent off for a high challenge on Schneiderlin, perhaps harshly, and Saints looked to push forward again.  Norwich were still menacing, but Saints creating the better chances, an unlucky Lallana hitting the post twice in only a couple of minutes.

It was Puncheon who created the decisive goal, beating 2 players on the right wing, getting to the bye-line and pulling back for Barnard to drive home.  The rest of the game mattered little, as Saints comfortably closed out the game.

Alan Pardew has added players cannily this season, and his January signings appear to have fallen into place.  It will still be an uphill struggle to make the play-offs, but this team could dominate the rest of the season.

Saints have announced the full ticket details for the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final at Wembley on March 28th, with an initial allocation of over 44,000 tickets.

Prices range from £24 to £58 for adults, and we’ve been given the majority of the North and South stands as well as the West end. Carlisle United, our opponents, are believed to have requested around 25,000 tickets.

Full details are on the Official Site, but we at SaintsWeb are suggesting that those who wish to be part of a “singing section” should attempt to buy tickets in Category 3 (£34) in blocks 131 to 137. Tickets go on sale to season ticket holders - who can buy two tickets each - from Monday 22nd February.

Three late goals on the break saw the Blue Few take the local bragging rights for at least a few days after Saints had dominated large parts of the game but failed to take numerous chances.

Full report to follow…

Goals from Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana as well as a freak Dan Woodards own goal saw Saints book a trip to Wembley against Carlisle United for the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final at the end of March.

Full report to follow…