When the team was announced at 6.30pm on Wednesday evening there weren't many in agreement with Ralph Hasenhuttl about his selections, but as i said in the preview, sometimes you just have to trust the manager to get it right.
Even the Saints official twitter feed joked after the game that there was still time to delete all those pre game tweets as Saints supporters to a man were astonished with the 9 changes made to the side that hade beaten Norwich & Everton in the last two home games.
I had to say as i walked to the ground I was already writing this verdict in my head, I was going to say that although I still back Ralph Hasenhuttl to the hilt, that sometimes managers sometimes get it wrong and this was one of those things.
Those around me were in agreement, that we appeared to be throwing away a real chance of an FA Cup semi final place.
But 2 hours later the same people on the same route were buzzing, they had seen a great performance by what was essentially our second XI plus James Ward Prowse put in a sterling performance with Ralph Hasenhuttl making the right substitutions at the right time.
In truth for the first 10-15 minutes it seemed that Ralph had made a blunder, the Hammers had a grip on the game and were roared on by their fans, whilst Saints supporters seemed subdued by the line up with the hope driven out of them.
Slowly but surely though we started to get a grip on the game, it was bit by bit and for a while although we were playing well we were still giving the ball away far too often and we lacked bite up front.
But then came one of those moments, from 35 yards out Romain Perraud smashed an unstoppable shot into the far corner and suddenly the crowd were on their feet and had found their voices.
It was still an end to end game that Saints held by a fragile lead, but we had something to hold and the crowd were believing again and more importantly so where the players.
At half time Ralph made 2 changes, on came Armando Broja for the injured Shane Long and on came Stuart Armstrong for the out of sorts Moussa Djenepo.
I felt sorry for Djenepo, things were not going right for him, it was not for a lack of effort or trying, it just wasn't happening, in truth he was the wrong player for the moment, he is an impact player, you want him taking on the opposition back line, but he was having to play too deep to have an impact.
In the second half we looked better shaped and after 58 minutes Hasenhuttl's game plan was starting to emerge, the idea was for the fringe squad to get us through the first half and then gradually the manager would bring on key players.
On came Tino Livramento for KWP and we thought we would step up another gear
But it didn't pay off at first, within 2 minutes the Hammers were level, corners were dangerous, we lacked height in the centre of defence and indeed the whole team, Willy Cabelerro had a decent game overall but he should have dealt with the inswinging corner , palming it on to a West Ham player and Antonio stabbed home from close range.
Suddenly the game had swung again and it could have gone either way, but with just over 10 minutes to play it changed again, Broja was through on goal, as he lined up his shot on the keeper from close range he seemed to be brought down, the crowd bayed for a penalty, the ref waved away appeals and it looked over, but then came VAR, the ref looked at the screen and then pointed to the spot.
James Ward Prowse obliged and with 10 minutes to go Saints had a lead, another sub, this time Nathan Redmond for Will Smallbone and we had something like a full side out there on the pitch and a lead to defend.
West Ham initially had a go, but now it was an even more determined home side, they were thwarted at every turn, Nathan Redmond hit a piledriver that Areola in the West Ham goal somehow clawed out and you sensed this was our night.
On came Romeu for 7 minutes of injury time and the roof was raised when Broja in the 5th minute of injury time put the game to bed with a trademark run and goal, to end the Hammers hopes.
In the away end it was a fire drill of massive proportions, literally everyone turned at the same moment and headed to the exits.
So Saints are in the quarter finals of the FA Cup for the second season running and indeed the third time in five years and yet two hours earlier few of the Saints support would have given us a cat in hells chance.
As mentioned i was one of them, but luckily enough I didn't take to social media to air my grievances.
Sometimes though you just have to trust the manager, as I have often said he has slowly but surely built a squad not just a team, in truth the starting line up last night was probably as good as the one we had 4 years ago when although we reached the semi finals we almost went down, that is how far we have come on in that time under Ralph Hasenhuttl, yes it has been a tough time, but now we look to have come through it and can now move forward.
I still think that ralph did make a few changes too many, but in the main the players stepped up to the plate, the makeshift central pairing of Stephens & Valery dug in and played well, Will Smallbone in midfield was not spectacular but was tidy and kept the ball well, Ibrahima Diallo gave a battling performance worthy of Oriol Romeu .
Up front Adam Armstrong was mobile and never stopped running and proved that as a forward you don't always have to score to make a contribution and have a good game.
But at the end of the day it was another special evening at St Mary's and we are in the quarter finals of the FA Cup and we can dream for a day at least, perhaps that bubble will be burst if we draw Manchester City or Liverpool away, but until then we just need to keep our fingers crossed for the draw to be in our favour.
That for me means the lowest ranked side we can get at home.
So if we have a man of the match for this game and in truth it was again a typical Saints performance of late, the sum of all parts of the team rather than individuals, then it is Ralph Hasenhuttl, he stuck to what he though was not only right but the best thing to do, despite literally the entire fanbase disagreeing and he made the right changes at the right time, he once again showed that he has the tactical nous to take us forward.
Just one request for him though.
Please don't do it in the next round !