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.

Two goals from Papa Waigo - including a last-gasp equaliser - and then Bartosz Bialkowski saved two penalties in a sudden-death shootout to set up a Southern Final against the MK Dons.

Full report to follow…

Goals from Adam Lallana and David Connolly weren’t enough to claim all three points in an entertaining draw with Norwich in difficult weather conditions.

Full report to follow…

Saints have been handed another home draw in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy with a tie against Norwich City in the Southern semi-final at St Mary’s.

In the other Southern semi-final, League Two side Hereford United have home advantage against MK Dons.

In the Northern section, bookies’ favourites Leeds United were also drawn at home again, this time against Accrington Stanley. Carlisle United host Bradford City in the other Nothern semi-final.

Second half goals from Kayne McLaggon and Marek Saganowski saw Saints fight back from 2-0 down to rescue a point in a relegation six-pointer at Carrow Road.

Report by Matt Hemsley.

With talk of more experienced players in the line up, Saints fans arrived at Carrow Road to find a first start for some time from Paul Wotton, with Jason Euell returning on the bench.  The main surprise was the dropping to the bench of Marek Saganowski, with new manager Wotte saying he believed McGoldrick offered more pace on the break.

Saints began with a new formation, too, opting for a traditional British 4-5-1, with Wotton dropping deeper on occasion to sit right in front of the defence.  Saints were content to let Norwich play in their own half and sat deep, stifling the space in front of the 18 year box.

While Norwich had most of the early play, Saints stalling tactics meant they didn’t get a sniff at goal.  However, when Saints had the ball it was often given away cheaply, or punted long an aimlessly for McGoldrick to chase, giving the young striker little service.

Ryan Smith chased and harried early down the right, but struggled to get any real possession, and Lee Holmes sat deep on the left, mindful of his defensive duties.

As the half wore on, Norwich started looking more dangerous, with Cureton forcing a good save from Davis.  The Canaries were also finding good space down their right, with Lee Molyneux often being caught leaving too much space between himself and the touchline.

Holmes appeared to injure a hamstring and was replaced by Kayne McLaggon, who again was prepared to hold deep as part of the defensive effort.

The opening goal came on 35 minutes.  Neat work down the left saw Cureton able to jink inside and get a ball to Fotheringham who lashed into the corner of the net.  It was nothing less than the home side deserved.  Worse was to come two minutes later.  Norwich got a free kick 40 yards from goal, and with the visitors organising themselves defensively the kick was taking quick to Hoolahan who took two touches and smashed the ball home from fully 30 yards.

The rest of the first half saw Saints clinging on to go in at 2-0, with Davis patrolling his area well.

HT 2-0

Saints reshuffled at the start of the 2^nd half, moving to a 4-4-2 formation, with Saganowski replacing Ryan Smith.  However, the game continued much as the 1^st half had been, with Norwich having more of the ball, but unable to find themselves through the 2 banks of four.

Saganowski and McGoldrick struggled to play off each other, although with two up front they were able to chase and harry the Norwich backline more effectively.  McLaggon looked lively on the left, able to beat his full back, although his final ball was lacking.  He was able to win corners on occasions.

It was from one of these corners that Saints got a massive slice of luck.  The ball broke to McLaggon 20 yards from goal who drove the ball towards goal.  It would have been an easy save for the ‘keeper, but the ball took a wicked deflection and went in for 2-1.

The home side weren’t rattled and kept possession of the ball and continued to go forward.  The display of centre-halves Perry and Saeijs (looking more and more like a quality signing) repelled most of the attacks.

Jason Euell replaced Simon Gillett in midfield, and was able to force the issue a bit more due to his size, winning balls in the air and able to chase both forward and back.  McGoldrick broke through to the left of goal, but his weak left foot shot rolled across goal, just too far ahead of Saganowski.

Lloyd James was finding space on the right, but had done little with it until with it until 12 minutes from time, when a pint point cross found the Polish striker to nod home an undeserved equaliser.

The last ten minutes again saw Norwich with more possession, but they were able to create little of note, the best chance being a looping ball that Euell was able to nod away off the line.

So then, 2-2 and two different formations.  All-in-all it wasn’t the best display from Saints this season, but we’ll clearly take the luck and the point against Norwich.  Perry and Saeijs at the back were a solid tandem, and made us tough to beat through the middle.  But there was little quality on the ball, with Saints looking some distance from the neat passing team that had won plaudits from opposing managers all season.

Of course, Saints have done well away from home this season, the real test for Mark Wotte lies with 2 home games in 4 days starting with Swansea next Saturday.  He’ll need some of the luck that he got at Carrow Road.

Saints MOTM: Jan-Paul Saeijs

Saints took all three points for the second time in four days giving themselves a much needed boost to 16th place in the Championship table with a debut goal from on-loan striker Jordan Robertson and a David McGoldrick penalty.

Stern John and Morgan Schneiderlin both missed out with the hamstring injuries they picked up in the win at Doncaster on Saturday, and Paul Wotton was also ruled out after picking up a knock in training. Chris Perry came into the side as captain alongside Olly Lancashire at the back, Tomas Pekhart replaced John up front and Robertson made his Saints debut in a wide left position in an attacking-looking midfield 5 of Robertson, Lallana, Cork, Surman and McGoldrick. Rudi Skacel made the 16 for the first time this season as he took a seat on the bench.

Saints started fairly brightly with McGoldrick and Robertson looking lively, and it was McGoldrick who went closest in the early exchanges when his cross was blocked but the ball ran kindly back into his path but from a tight angle his shot rebounded wide off the outside of the post.

Norwich then started to take a grip of the game and Saints looked very nervy for a period of about 20 minutes or so, where the visitors could have put the game out of sight. They hit the woodwork themselves when Antoine Sibierski met Gary Croft’s cross, the ball hitting the inside of the post but fortunately bouncing clear. Oman Koroma, on loan from Pompey, then had a gilt-edged chance when he somehow found himself unmarked inside the six-yard box but could only put his header over the bar.

Saints were crying out for a little bit of inspiration and on the half-hour mark it certainly came. Robertson collected the ball on the left touchline, cut inside the full-back and appeared set for a cross, but surprised everyone with a fierce curling effort that found the top corner.

Jan Poortvliet made a surprise substitution shortly afterwards, replacing Tomas Pekhart with Bradley Wright-Phillips, who took up Robertson’s position on the left wing with the Sheffield United loanee moving further forward. Pekhart didn’t appear to be injured, so I can only assume it was a tactical move.

Norwich carved out a couple of half-chances late in the first half, but neither Koroma, Sibierski or Darel Russell could even hit the target, let alone force Kelvin Davis into a save.

Saints then nearly doubled the advantage on the stroke of half time. Wright-Phillips, who had looked completely lost in the 15 minutes he’d been on the pitch to date, had a clear 30-yard run to the edge of the area where he unleashed a fierce left-footed drive which cannoned back off the crossbar and away to safety.

HALF TIME: Saints 1-0 Norwich City

It took both sides a little while to get going in the second half, although City had clearly had an earful from manager Glenn Roeder at half-time as they were chasing the ball all over the place. Their hassling managed to carve out a fantastic chance to equalise just before the hour when Lancashire failed to clear the ball allowing Croft to steal it from him. He fed Koroma who beat Lloyd James and found himself in the clear, but his shot hit Davis on the right shoulder and cannoned behind for a corner. From that corner, Davis was again in the thick of the action as Sibierski’s header was powerful but this time found Davis’ left shoulder was equally as strong and the ball rebounded to safety.

This seemed to stir Saints into action, and they took a stranglehold of the game minutes later. Good interplay between James and Adam Lallana on the right wing led to Lallana cutting inside. It looked as if he had uncharacteristically allowed the ball to get away from him, but his quick feet allowed him to recover and lulled ex-Pompey defender Dejan Stefanovic into a rash challenge just inside the area, with referee Richard Beeby having no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

What followed isn’t exactly clear. Several Norwich players surrounded the referee, and then all of a sudden a red card was produced for Stefanovic, for what I can only presume was foul and abusive language. I’m pretty sure it can’t have been for the foul, which probably wouldn’t have even warranted a booking. Having missed the second of the two penalties he took on Saturday, Andrew Surman handed penalty-taking duties over to David McGoldrick, and he cooly sent David Marshall the wrong way to make it 2-0.

It should have been 3-0 just three minutes later when Wright-Phillips was put clear but with a tight angle, Marshall made a decent save. The rebound, however, fell to Adam Lallana but Jon Otsemobor found himself in the right place at the right time to block it on the line and Robertson’s follow-up went wide.

Saints’ confidence was clearly sky-high at this point, and shots were raining in on Marshall’s goal from all angles, with the Norwich keeper having to make decent one-handed saves from McGoldrick, Lallana and Robertson.

Glenn Roeder’s attempt to get Norwich back into the game saw him replace Koroma and Sibierski, arguably Norwich’s best two players on the night, with Arturo Lupoli and Jamie Cureton. Those with a reasonable memory will be well aware of Cureton’s knack of scoring against us, so with that in mind the game was still far from over even with only six minutes left on the clock. It was Lupoli who found himself with a great chance to bring the visitors back into the game when he found himself onside with only Davis to beat but a fair tame effort was comfortably tipped round the near post.

Robertson should have had his second of the night when Mills charged forward and put in a perfect cross but his flicked attempt missed the far post by a matter of inches. Robertson was then replaced by Matt Paterson, also making his debut, and he went off to a standing ovation from the St Mary’s crowd.

Three minutes of injury time brought nothing of any real note and the final whistle blew to move Saints above Norwich and up into 16th place in the Championship table.

FULL TIME: Saints 2-0 Norwich City

The Verdict: A thoroughly entertaining game, with the right result at the end of it. There have been so many occasions since we were relegated where we’ve created chance after chance and then lived to regret it as we end up dropping points as the opposition prove to be more ruthless in front of goal.

But for a string of great saves by David Marshall, we could have had 5 or 6 in the second half, and while we’re indebted to the shot-stopping ability of our own keeper Kelvin Davis and the poor finishing of Omar Koroma, it’s great to see the team playing with confidence again. The Blackpool game a month ago was clearly a bitter blow to the younger lads, and one which they only really recovered from at Doncaster on Saturday, but the table now looks a whole lot better with a larger number in the points column than in the games played one.

Glenn Roeder seems to think the penalty was a) not a foul, and b) not even in the area, but that shouldn’t overshadow what was an excellent attacking display in the second half.

Tonight’s game still leaves a fair number of question marks, though. Firstly, why hasn’t Jack Cork been playing in midfield for us more often? He is the dynamic defensive lynchpin we’ve been crying out for for a long time. Secondly, Bradley Wright-Phillips. The lad is clearly trying his best, but he looks completely lost among a group of younger players who are technically streets ahead of him. In hindsight, perhaps Rudi Skacel might have been a better bet for the wide-left role. Another question is clearly going to centre around the future of Adam Lallana, just how long can we keep Premier League sides at bay? His touch and technique is far better than any I can remember in the three-and-a-bit years we’ve been in this division, and for a young player who only broke into the team at the end of last season, that’s some feat.

The acid test, following this victory, is to follow it up with a performance against Coventry on Saturday. Unfortunately, that comes in the form of a televised game, and results-wise, we’ve been pretty dire when Sky have shown our games in recent times. The players need to keep their feet firmly on the ground. I suspect a few may have got ideas slightly above their station after the Birmingham cup win, which was then followed by an apparent home banker against relegation favourites Blackpool. Of course, we all know how that one turned out, so it’s important the lads take each game on its merits. I always think the oft-quoted saying “You’re only as good as your last game” is complete bollocks. If you place too much weight on your last match, and that last match was a good performance, you’re liable to relax into a pattern of believing every game will look as easy as that last one, which is rarely the case.

Coventry are a different team, almost certainly with a different style of play, and they’ll need to be ready to combat that.

The only real negative that can be taken from tonight is the attendance (again). 14,480 is poor and, with an apparent break-even figure of around 18,000, one the club cannot sustain financially for too long. Hopefully now we’ve got a home win under our belts, and with the positive reports that will come out from tonight’s performance, we’ll begin to attract a few of the doubters back to St Mary’s.

Saints go into tonight’s match against Norwich at St Mary’s in good spirits following Saturday’s 2-0 win at Doncaster. However, Norwich will be intent on spoiling the party in the knowledge that victory for them will almost certainly move them into the top half of the table, whereas a Saints win would see us leapfrog the Canaries and drag them into the mix at the wrong end.

So far this season, they’ve collected 10 points from 8 games, including two wins (against 10-man Plymouth and a last-minute winner against Sheffield United). They have kept just two clean sheets in those 8 games, both in their last two matches, compared to Saints’ three shutouts.

Former Arsenal striker Arturo Lupoli, currently on loan from Serie A side Fiorentina, is their top scorer with three league goals, so he’ll be the one to watch alongside a player who seems to always score against us, Jamie Cureton. Other players of interest are ex-Portsmouth captain Dejan Stefanovic and Gambian striker Oman Alieu Koroma, who is on loan from our “friends” down the road.

The head-to-head record between the two sides is fairly even, with Saints holding a 32-29 win advantage in league games (23 draws). 23 of those 32 league wins have come at home, with a 3 out of 4 win record since we moved to St Mary’s. Norwich’s only win at St Mary’s came last season when a Ched Evans goal on the stroke of half-time proved the difference, although on another day Saints would have scored 10. Stern John blazed a penalty over the bar after Gary Doherty handled and numerous other excellent chances were spurned to leave everyone wondering how we’d lost the game. We’ll need to be a lot more clinical tonight if we’re to get the three points.

As far as Saints are concerned, Stern John will miss out after picking up a hamstring injury early on in the win at Doncaster. Morgan Schneiderlin is a doubt after he hobbled off in the second half of that game. Tomas Pekhart is expected to start up front with Paul Wotton moving into the midfield holding role and Chris Perry filling the gap in the centre of defence that is strangely starting to look a bit more solid, at least as far as the goals against column is concerned, with two consecutive clean sheets.