A microcosm of the whole season was played out at St Mary’s this afternoon as spells of utter dominance weren’t capitalised upon allowing the opposition back into the game. Saints could have been 4 up in the first half but had to settle for a 2-2 draw with high-flying Burnley, a result which means we’ll definitely start next season with a 10-point deficit.

Full report to follow…

A disastrous first eleven minutes were the deciding factor in today’s game at Turf Moor that saw a brave but ultimately fruitless fightback in the second half. Goals from Rudi Skacel and Andrew Surman weren’t enough to rectify the three goals conceded early on as Chris Perry scored an own goal and Joey Gudjohnsson added a brace for high-flying Burnley.

My view of the action.

Burnley made their intentions known as early as the second minute, with Joey Gudjonsson playing in Martin Paterson, who shrugged off Chris Perry and saw his fierce effort come off the underside of the bar. A let off for now.

Wright-Phillips saw his cross for the visitors cleared by Caldwell as Jason Euell, returning to the team, lurked in the box. But not content with conceding two early goals – as they did on Monday away at Crystal palace, Saints decided to go one better, in a mad spell that saw us three goals down after just 11 minutes.

Wade Elliot’s cross from the right flank appeared to lack much danger, but CHRIS PERRY stuck out a foot, which was enough to divert the ball for an own goal into the far corner, past the despairing dive of Kelvin Davis.

And after making a superb low save from Robbie Blake’s sweeping free kick, Davis would turn to villain as he dropped Steven Caldwell’s header from the resulting corner perfectly onto the head of JOEY GUDJONSSON who steered the ball home from close range and past David McGoldrick on the line.

Further desolation ensued, when more slack defending allowed Paterson to waltz down the left and as he knocked the ball past Perry, Elliot covered his team-mate and crossed low for JOEY GUDJONSSON who ran into the box unchallenged and fired home for his second and Burnley’s third.

The game did start to settle down, but Saints didn’t look as though they’d cut the deficit, as chances continued to come the home side’s way. First Chris McCann’s low effort was parried straight to Paterson who somehow hit the post with Davis very much beaten, before Chris Eagles forced the Southampton number one into a smart low save.

The half drew to a close with Burnley playing at walking pace and Southampton looking very much dejected, although they could have got an important goal when David McGoldrick headed at goal from Surman’s free kick, but his effort sailed just wide.

Half Time: Burnley 3-0 Southampton

After getting berated by some fans as they left the pitch for half time, the Southampton players came out into the second half with a point to prove and almost reduced the three goal margin, when Wright-Phillips cut in from the right and laid off for McGoldrick to shoot, but he saw his shot tipped over the bar.

But they did get a goal and suggested a fight back was on the cards, when a corner was scrambled around the box, but Euell freed the ball to RUDI SKACEL on the edge of the box who lashed home a fine goal.

And Saints could have had another goal in quick succession, when Jason Euell’s looping header was clawed off the line by Jensen. Burnley had an equally decent headed opportunity when McCann headed over when unmarked from a corner, but Saints were starting to dream of a remarkable comeback, when they pulled it back to 3-2…

Wright-Phillips took a quick throw in and Euell skipped past his man, before threading a perfect ball through to ANDREW SURMAN, who took the ball in his stride and fired across Jensen with a crisp low shot.

But Burnley could have killed off the game, when Davis punched a corner clear into the path of Robbie Blake, who had the goal at his mercy, but saw his shot deflected o ver. And as the Saints were losing their momentum, Burnley should have killed off the game when substitute Steven Thompson shot straight at Davis from just a couple of yards out and the saints were to run out of time.

Full time: Burnley 3-2 Southampton

Poor, poor defending set us up for another uphill battle and it was a bit of a joke that we conceded three goals in the first 11 minutes, after we had conceded two early goals on Monday. Poortvliet said we would attempt to start games better, but we went and started even worse, which was some feat.

Sure, we did threaten a comeback and the second half was a little better, but it looked better on paper, than it actually was. In truth, we played well for about 10 minutes over the 90, which isn’t good enough.

And further still, we could have conceded a couple more in the second half, after we should have been about 6-0 down at half time. I’m sure that we can get the defensive formula right though, as we showed a few weeks back that we could be solid defensively and the personnel haven’t changed in this area.

Upfront we still look mightily weak though and had to rely on goals from midfielders. We do however look more threatening with Jason Euell in the team and he should be considered as a definite starter.

Burnley did play well, but their goals were a little gifted. Upfront Martin Paterson gave us the run around, showing good energy to run the flanks, he also showed creativity and should have scored at least two. In midfield, they passed it around well and always had runners and their hard work probably deserved the luck that they got.

We need to forget about the past week and look forward to our home tie against Nottingham Forest next week, as it is vitally important that not only do we win our home games, but we win against the teams that are around us at the bottom of the table.

Saints head to Burnley tomorrow looking to atone for Monday night’s defeat at Crystal Palace.

In the three meetings at Turf Moor since our relegation, we’ve won twice and drawn once, but that good record will be put to a stern test tomorrow afternoon as Burnley are currently flying high in the Championship table. With ten wins from their 22 games, they currently sit in 4th place, six points behind Reading and just ahead of Sheffield United, who they beat 3-2 last week.

Typically, Burnley have made a good start to the season in the Championship only to fall away around this time of the year, and our 3-2 win last season was the beginning of their familiar slide down the table. They ended in 13th place, which was fairly comfortable, but finished only ten points ahead of relegated Leicester City, which goes to show how close the bottom half of the Championship was last season.

They have reserved their best form for in front of their own fans this season, unlike us, and have only lost once on home soil, which was their first home game of the season - a 3-0 defeat against Ipswich. Since then, they’ve won 6 and drawn 4, scoring 17 goals in the process.

If we’re to get anything from the game, we’re going to have to make sure we defend properly from set-pieces, something we failed to do on Monday night for Craig Beattie’s goal which was probably the strike that knocked the stuffing out of us.

Burnley are sweating on the fitness of Michael Duff and Chris McCann, but otherwise manager Owen Coyle has a full squad to choose from. Their goals have mostly been shared between Martin Paterson (signed from Scunthorpe in the summer), Robbie Blake and former Manchester United winger Chris Eagles. They are the key players to look out for tomorrow.

For Saints, Morgan Schneiderlin is expected to come back into the side, possibly in place of Alex Pearce with Jack Cork moving into the centre of defence alongside Chris Perry. The whereabouts of Jason Euell seems to be a bit of a mystery after he was expected to come straight back into the fold after serving his three-match ban, and Anthony Pulis may be on the bench for the first time after recovering from a broken foot.