A controversial late equaliser from Steve Davies denied Saints a third consecutive home win after Chris Perry had given them a second-half lead in a scrappy game.

Mark Wotte kept faith with the side narrowly beaten at Birmingham on Saturday. Derby boss Nigel Clough made two changes to the team that beat Bristol City at the weekend with Andy Todd replacing Jay McEveley and John Eustace made his debut in place of Chris Porter.

From the start the visitors made it pretty clear what their intentions were, with numerous long balls being played up to Rob Hulse, with Gary Teale and Nacer Barazite expected to get forward to support him from wide positions.

It took ten minutes for either side to fashion anything resembling a shot on goal, with Morgan Schneiderlin blasting just over from 25 yards.

Derby, despite their direct approach, were starting to come into the game a bit more, and Rob Hulse will feel he probably should have done better when he found himself with a free header ten yards out, although the cross was a bit behind him.

The best chance of the half came Saints’ way midway through the first half, Andrew Surman found himself in a bit of space at a tight angle. His lob evaded Steven Bywater but went agonisingly across the face of goal. Marek Saganowski managed to keep it in play and pulled it back for Jason Euell but his shot from distance went a long way wide.

Jan-Paul Saeijs then gifted Derby a shooting chance from 25 yards when he uncerimoniously bundled Hulse to the ground, but fortunately Teale’s effort from the free kick was pretty pathetic and went well wide.

After a very forgettable first half, the referee put everyone out of their misery and blew for half-time.

Saints made a change at half-time with Adam Lallana replacing Schneiderlin on the right of midfield, but it didn’t seem to have a particularly big effect with both sides largely bypassing midfield in favour of the direct approach. Hulse chased onto one such long ball from the Derby defence and appeared to clearly shove Saeijs in the back, but the ref waved play on. Hulse took the ball towards goal but hit his shot straight at Kelvin Davis, who gathered it at the second attempt.

This seemed to serve as a wake-up call for Saints, as they forced a number of corners, which put pressure on the creaking Derby defence, and finally one of them paid off just before the hour mark. Simon Gillett’s deep corner was knocked down by Euell for Chris Perry who rifled a shot against the underside of the bar, which rebounded in off the shin of Andy Todd. Derby immediately responded by bringing on an extra striker, Nathan Ellington replacing Mile Sterjovski.

All of a sudden the confidence to play attacking, passing football had returned, and just minutes later Lallana set David McGoldrick free down the right. He got to the bye-line and pulled the ball back perfectly for Andrew Surman, but somehow he managed to connect with the ball with his heel rather than his instep, and skewed his shot a yard wide.

Saints had a let-off a minute later when an innocuous cross from Teale was somehow spilled by Davis but fortunately Rudi Skacel was first to react to the loose ball to poke it wide for a corner.

Paul Wotton was brought on in place of Surman in order to add a bit more bite to the midfield, and the sting appeared to be disappearing out of the game, which would have suited Saints completely. In response, Nigel Clough replaced the tiring Rob Hulse with Steve Davies, and just six minutes later he made a swift impact.

Martin Albrechtsen’s shot from distance was probably going out for a throw-in, but fell kindly for Davies in front of goal. He looked comfortably offside but the flag stayed down, and he poked the ball home for a barely-deserved equaliser.

With three minutes to go, Saints were caught on the break having committed players forward to get a winning goal. Davies outpaced Saeijs on the corner of the penalty area, turned inside and hit a curling shot which hit the inside of the post and rebounded to safety.

Saints were to ride their luck one more time before the end of the game. A hopeful punt into the area saw Ellington attempt to bring the ball down, but Saeijs seemed to be climbing all over him. Fortunately the ref waved the Derby appeals away.

After 4 minutes of added time, the full time whistle was blown on a very scrappy game.

Saints have today announced that they are delaying the announcement of season ticket prices for next season until April due to the uncertainty as to which division we’ll be playing in.

With 12 games to go in the Championship, Saints are still three points from safety at the bottom of the table despite successive home wins against promotion-chasing opposition, but while relegation looked very likely two weeks ago, the recent form has suggested the fat lady hasn’t even cleared her throat yet.

The club has also taken the opportunity to try to take advantage of the newly-found feelgood factor after the Preston and Cardiff games by announcing some ticket deals for three of the remaining five home games this season.

Season ticket holders will be able to buy additional tickets for next Tuesday’s game against Derby for just £5 (and those who have already bought tickets can get the difference refunded) - attendances for midweek games this season have been poor, averaging around the 14,500 mark.

The crucial relegation six-pointer against bottom side Charlton Athletic on 4th April has seen tickets reduced across the board with adult tickets priced at £15 and concessions £5 for all areas of the ground. This is the same promotion that was run before Christmas for the Nottingham Forest game, which produced an attendance of nearly 27,000 - a similar attendance would obviously help the club financially, but clearly a much better result will be needed!

Finally, the match against Crystal Palace on Easter Monday has been designated a “Kids for a Quid” game. All tickets for under-16s are just £1. Again, anyone who has already bought tickets for these games can claim a refund of the difference from the ticket office.

The game at Pride Park started at a fast pace and there was uncertainty in the Southampton box as Robbie Savage chased a miss-placed pass and closed in on goal, but Kelvin Davis was quick off his line to remove any danger. From this, Southampton broke with intent from the back and a long ball forward was misjudged by Claude Davis and Lee Holmes took advantage running at goal, C Davis recovered to outmuscle him off the ball, but David McGoldrick saw his shot blocked by Martin Albrechtsen – the summer signing from West Bromwich Albion.

Derby responded, but were equally wasteful from a decent position, when Paul Green found the lively Kris Commons out wide, who cut in and shot woefully wide. Holmes and Surman linked up well down the left hand side, but Surman couldn’t pick out a striker in the box – something of a hindrance with playing one striker up front.

Again, Derby pushed for an early goal; as they desperately searched for a first league win in almost a year. Mears galloped forward from right back and pulled back for Commons who shot at goal, only to see it blocked by his own player Green and then deflected wide, whilst Michael Svensson dominantly headed the resulting corner clear.

The Saints were starting to take control of the game, as they dominated particularly in midfield, carving out two great one on one opportunities, which Roy Carroll in goal was equal to. First Jamie White, who was making his league debut for the club, capitalised on a Jay McEveley slip and played a neat ball in for ex Derby man Holmes, but he saw his lofted effort smothered by the Derby Number one, who again kept his side in the game when David McGoldrick fluffed an equally good opportunity minutes later.

Once More, Derby pressed for a goal, with Green crossing for Hulse who saw his diving header go wide and the game was delayed for a few minutes as Simon Gillet, who was everywhere, clashed heads with Hulse as he challenged bravely for the ball and the home side could have scored when Green saw his goal bound attempt blocked well by Lloyd James.

Robbie Savage shot just over after he received a pass from Commons, before Saints’ new ‘total football system’ under coach Jan Poortvliet started to become more apparent, as Morgan Schneiderlin and Simon Gillett consistently broke up play in the middle of the park and sprayed the ball around to the wings, to set them on their way, in what appeared to be excellent link up play.

Subsequently, McGoldrick smartly played in Lallana who missed saints’ third one on one opportunity, before Jamie White skipped down the right hand side and weaved his way past three players, before crossing low, which was cleared.

As the half drew to a close, Derby could have snatched a possible underserved lead, when Emanuel Villa got great connection with his header from Commons’ corner, but Kelvin Davis pulled off a magnificent one handed save as the ball looked destined for the net.

The goals weren’t there for Southampton, as the score board still read 0-0, but the play was a pleasant surprise to the away fans, who were eagerly waiting to see if Saints could continue to play the flowing football they had hinted at towards the end of the first half.

Half Time: Derby County 0-0 Southampton

Things weren’t to get much better for Derby, as Southampton continued with their great passing game and managed to play even better in the second half.

First, White made a great run and found McGoldrick who then laid off for Holmes, but he placed his shot just inches wide, before Lallana played in James who cut inside and teed up McGoldrick to shot over. Next Lallana curled a shot of his own just wide, as the onslaught continued, but the goal was to come…

Commons broke clear of Surman and bore down on goal, only to see his shot well saved by the legs of Davis and as the rebound bobbled clear, The Saints showed off their ‘total football’ at its best – James made a crunching tackle to win the loose ball and Gillett passed to his fellow defensive midfield anchorman Schneiderlin, who fizzed a ball out wide to Holmes, who in turn set Jamie White clear on the right, he crossed first time for Lallana who saw his volley saved by Carroll, but he hooked the rebound towards goal and it hit the underside of the bar and bounced back out – it appeared to cross the line, but McGoldrick made sure by following up with an easy header into the empty net… who scored you decide.

Derby offered little in return, as they failed to cope with Southampton’s supreme passing style and the ‘boo’s’ started to ring out around the stadium – music to most Southampton fans’ ears – well mine at least.

The away side could have further extended the lead, when McGoldrick had two headed chances – first heading against the bar from Gillett’s cross and then seeing his goal bound effort tipped over the bar by Carroll.

The Saints closed out the game with a fine display of ‘keep ball’ and the final whistle ensured a first league away win since December and in some style too.

Full Time: Derby County 0-1 Southampton

Summary

A really good result for Saints and an even better performance made this day a very satisfying one for me and the other away fans who made the journey – possibly fearing a defeat – especially as Derby hadn’t won a league game for so long.

The goal was much deserved and although first accredited to McGoldrick, has been confirmed by the players involved as Lallana’s, but who scored didn’t matter as every Southampton player could walk away with their heads held high, as they all put in a great shift.

In defence, we were solid, Davis making two fine saves in goal; centre backs Svensson and Perry keeping solid throughout and full backs James and Surman linking up really well with the wingers White and Holmes. Up front, McGoldrick showed great effort and should have come away with couple of goals, but in the centre of midfield was where we were most dominant with Schneiderlin and Gillett breaking up play and linking up well with Lallana – it would be very hard to pick one man of the match for The Saints, but I’d give it to the midfield, as it was great to see such elegant passing for the full 90 minutes and refreshing to see so much effort from young players who want to play for Southampton FC.

As for Derby, they were poor and confidence was low and we took advantage of this. It was evident for most of the game that they couldn’t get to grips with the style of play Southampton chose to play and experienced players like Robbie Savage and Jay Mceverely were made to look very suspect.

I feel they have a decent enough squad, but they need to work harder. One thing that puzzles me is manager Paul Jewell’s decisions to berate his players at every opportunity – this can’t help the players’ confidence… maybe Jewell should look at where the players are going wrong and what they could improve on, rather than slating them to the press.

Positives for Derby were that Roy Carroll made some great saves and Kris Commons and Paul Green both looked pretty lively and is this something they can build around perhaps. I think Derby could improve if they replaced Savage with a younger hungrier player and McEveley at full back with a player who is more solid in a defensively. Whilst for Saints, I just hope we can continue with our style of play and our refreshing will to win under manager Jan Poortvliet.