A Wayne Thomas stunner and a tap-in from Michail Antonio saw Saints pull off a bit of an upset in the FA Cup.

Full report to follow…

Saints have been drawn at home against Championship side Ipswich Town in the FA Cup 4th Round.

Roy Keane’s side had a dreadful start to the season, failing to win any of their first 11 games, but have since picked up form and have lifted themselves to 19th place, and will provide a stern test for a Saints side who have struggled a bit through games over the Christmas period.

Having seen League One leaders Leeds United win at Old Trafford this afternoon, though, Alan Pardew will know that an upset is always possible in the FA Cup.

The draw in full:

Southampton v Ipswich Town
Reading or Liverpool v Burnley
Millwall or Derby County v Brentford or Doncaster Rovers
Bristol City or Cardiff City v Leicester City
Stoke City v Arsenal
Notts County or Forest Green Rovers v Wigan Athletic
Scunthorpe United v Manchester City
West Bromwich Albion v Plymouth Argyle or Newcastle United
Everton v Nottingham Forest or Birmingham City
Accrington Stanley or Gillingham v Fulham
Bolton Wanderers v Sheffield United or Queens Park Rangers
Portsmouth or Coventry City v Sunderland
Preston North End v Chelsea
Aston Villa v Brighton and Hove Albion
Tranmere Rovers or Wolverhampton Wanderers v Crystal Palace
Tottenham Hotspur v Leeds United

Ties will be played on the weekend of 23rd January, meaning Saints’ League One game against Swindon Town will be postponed until later in the season.

Two goals from Jason Euell and a first senior strike for Matt Paterson gave Saints a comprehensive win at Ipswich to make it three in a row for the first time this season. Could the Great Escape be on the cards again?

My view of the action as the players clap the fans at the end.

It was the Saints who started the brighter out of the two teams, applying a fair amount of pressure on the Ipswich rearguard in the first 20 minutes, but without little reward .First Saganowski drifted out to the left and pulled back well, but no-one was in the box, before the polish international dispossessed Town captain McCauley and bore down on goal, only for the defender to recover and tackle well.

Moments later Saganowski dropped deep and fed McGoldrick, who turned expertly well in order to lay off for Surman to shoot, but his effort was deflected over the bar for a corner kick. While the home side finally got a sniff at goal when Stead cut in and blasted woefully over the bar and they should have done better when Quinn dinked a ball through the middle for Counago, who was forced wide by Saeijs and fired past the side netting.

Saints had a golden chance to open the scoring with just over a quarter of the game gone, when Euell curled a high and accurate through ball over the top for Saganowski, who’s cheeky attempt at a lob was smothered well by former Southampton loanee goalkeeper Richard Wright. But an even better chance would come minutes later, in which the referee had a large role to play….

Surman’s whipped free kick delivery was perfect and Saejis’ header flew into the net, only for the linesman to disallow for an apparent foul. Frustration wouldn’t last for long though, when the away side would score an almost carbon copy goal, without the fouling…

Surman again swung in a great free kick and JASON EUELL rose above McCauley to guide a header into the bottom left hand corner of the net.

Euell would enjoy further recognition from the away support when he headed away to safety from a goal bound lob from Norris - who was in plenty of space, when Davis failed to punch away a free kick and was left stranded.

And the hosts appeared to slowly be getting back into the game, when they hit the frame of the goal. Quinn found David Wright in space and the full back shot against the cross bar. It would have been harsh on Saints who had fought hard and deserved a half time lead, which they could have doubled, when Schneiderlin sprayed the ball out wide to McGoldrick, who in turn supplied Skacel, but his fizzing ball across goal was not met by the outstretched Saganowski.

Half time: Ipswich Town 0-1 Southampton

The Saints came out for the second half showing the same desire as they had in the first half. And David McGoldrick was first to get a shot away, when he collected Davis’ goal kick and attempted a swerving strike from distance, which Wright did well to gather.

McGoldrick seemed in a determined mood in the second half and could have scored a wonder goal, when he cut in from the right, beating two defenders, before curling millimetres wide of the post, when perhaps he could have crossed.

Ipswich did offer a threat from set pieces, with McCauley nodding on for half time sub Walters to head at goal, but his shot was just over the bar. However Saints were still continuing to create chances and show desire to take all three points. First McGoldrick forced Wright into a smart save, where he had to parry wide, before Perry’s volley from the resulting corner by Gillett was ruled out, again for another unseen foul.

The home side responded with desperation and should have done better to equalise, when another substitute Lisbie turned in the box, but saw his low shot tipped wide.

But it was Saints who failed in the decision making department, first Saganowski cut in and shot at Wright’s legs, when he had Euell screaming for the ball. Before Surman dispossessed Bruce and squared for Euell and McGoldrick to both combine to miss from a matter of yards, when their was space at the near post for Surman to tuck the ball away.

Saints did manage to stamp victory on the match, when late on JASON EUELL chased onto a through ball and shot at Wright, but with the keeper grounded, Euell managed to nick the ball away and turn, before firing into the empty net.

And to complete a fantastic display, MATT PATERSON, who had just come on as a substitute, won the ball in midfield and with his first touch, shot low into the bottom corner, from the edge of the box, for his first senior goal.

Full time: Ipswich Town 0-3 Southampton

This was an excellent performance from Saints and things are starting to look up. At last we have a decent formation, at last we have a decent blend of youth and experience and at last the burden is off David McGoldrick as a lone striker, as we are now playing both Saganowski and Euell upfront and I believe this is the reason for our three wins on the bounce - the game at Ipswich sharing similarities in performance from the previous two wins at home to Preston and Cardiff.

Again we played with a diamond shaped midfield and the team could be proud of the effort they put in over the course of the game. Our passing was much better than the opposition, furthermore we managed to close down the opposition frequently and this forced the defence to put a lot of balls out for throw-in’s that perhaps weren’t necessary.

Upfront Euell closed down well and held the ball up to feet really well, which enabled Saganowski to drift into the channels and McGoldrick to push forward from midfield - this was particularly noticeable in the second half.

In midfield Surman had a great game and his delivery for the first goal was lovely. He also showed some good range of passing and a tireless display. Schneiderlin was solid enough, but not spectacular and same with Gillett, who I felt was a little off the pace.

In defence I was particularly impressed with the contribution of Chris Perry, who won a number of headers and vital blocks, while Saeijs was solid as ever and the two full backs Skacel and James got forward well.

Overall I think we thoroughly deserved to win, as we outclassed and fought harder than Ipswich in most and if not all departments of the game. Ipswich of whom, did not look a top 10 side. For the next game I wouldn’t change anything and think we could be successful if we attack Birmingham in the same manner as we have attacked teams in the last three games.

Substitute Tomas Pekhart was in the right place at the right time twenty minutes from time to fire home an equalising goal that gave Saints their first home league point of the season.

Andrew Surman had earlier given Saints the lead only for Owen Garvan to take advantage of sloppy defending to equalise shortly after. Alan Quinn’s header early in the second half looked as though it would be enough for the visitors to take the points back to East Anglia until Pekhart took advantage of some slack defending to haul Saints level.