A massive three points.

To be perfectly blunt Saints were awful for much of the match, but dug in and got their rewards, to start on the down sides of the game, defensively we were awful, Bournemouth came at us as we knew they would and got an early goal, but as bad as we were we held our shape and got back in the game quickly courtesy of an awful goalkeeping error.

The problem was Saints at the back struggled to clear the ball and when they did it was often just hoofed to nowhere rather than passed, of the back four only Danny Butterfield played with any composure, Fonte seems a shadow of his former self and quite frankly was extremely lucky not to concede a penalty, the referee being the only person in the ground who didnt think it was, Rickie Lambert was abysmal, his free kick goal was just about the only positive thing he did all day.

But the main thing was to get three points and the result will be remembered long after the manner in which it was gained forgotten, this makes it three wins in a row and gives us a great platform on which to build, this was our most difficult game so far this season and we won it.

Now we have to continue this run and not only make it four out of four on Saturday but five out of five and so on, we know the potential of the team, we know they are not playing well, so what must frighten our opponents most is the fact that when we do get into gear there is no reasosn why we cant cruise to automatic promotion, although it wont be easy we now have to be focussed, Peterborough and Huddersfield each have a difficult away trip on Tuesday we need to bide our time, win our games and accept that our rivals will win the games that they should do but everyone they dont is a step forward.

As for Bournemouth, they have seen their season collapse in the space of four days, after an 11 match unbeaten spell they have dropped from 2nd to fifth and to be frank with a difficult trip to Carlisle next Saturday they could find themselves under threat from not only MK Dons but Leyton Orient for a play off spot.       

Photo: Action Images

sholingred added 11:21 - Mar 13 That was a great result,and the team to worry about for me,is Peterborough.
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hortonsaint added 11:36 - Mar 13 Agreed not a great performance but we got the breaks and I thought dug in with Hammond working exceptionally hard. I also thought this game showed the maturity beyond his years of AOC who also showed great work rate and discipline positionally. Although B'muff had much of the ball I didn't feel unduly worried unil we went in front and this was a typical derby game where yes we got the breaks but matched them for workrate which has not always been the case this year. It was unlikely to be a game for the purists and I don't think we defended terribly. Re Lambert yes he was poor but don't forget he created the first goal as well with his (rare!) persistence and cross. You've also neglected to mention a the vital save made by Kelvin at 2-1, by all means criticise him when deseved but also give him credit too-that was a great save to touch the shot onto the bar. BTW a great errorfrom their keeper for our first-isn't he one of this plethora keepers in our league that is supposed to better than Kelvin? Looked nervous all game to me. Agree with sholingred Peterboro seem to have sorted their defence out and look ominous

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131153 added 12:27 - Mar 13 Which ever way you look at it this was a good result. Nick I think you should go down to your local pharmacy and see if he can prescribe some happy pills. I realise it is daft to look at everything through rose tinted specs but a 3-1 win away in a derby match doesn't come about by being pretty awful. I admit I wasn't there but that's my thoughts. I understand RL made one goal and scored another, seem to remember another player who used to make and score crucial goals, name escapes me but he wore the number 7 shirt.

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AdkinsBabies added 13:13 - Mar 13 What a strange report 1) Lets look at the facts. Besides the goals we scored, we had more shots on target and more off target, and more possession. 2) Yes we got the rub of the green on one decision (Haven't seen the replay) but the penalty would still have to be scored of course, which is not guaranteed. Other than one effort that hit the cross bar, Bournemouth created nothing. Jaidi was superb at the back, won every single header. How on earth you can say we were defensively awful is beyond me. Bournemouth have one of the best home records in the league, and score plenty of goals. We restricted them to one fortunate goal (a ricochet of one of our own players)and an effort from distance that hit the bar. Sometimes, in local derbies like this, the best way to defend, is to just clear the lines. 3) After the break we were good. We controlled the game for large parts in the second half, after admittedly been second best in the first period. Lallana and Hammond were superb. The former especially, the ball seems to stick to his feet at times, and is way too good for this division. Even the Bournemouth fans said that he was class. 4) I also disagree with a lot of the people slagging off Rickie. He was never going to match his performances from last season in terms of goals, but he is nudging 20 again this season, and is so unselfish in what he does on the field. Look at the opta stats. He covers almost more ground than anyone else in our side. Only Hammond and Chaplow better him. He is used as a battering ram constantly. Calling him abysmal after he set up the first goal chasing a lost cause and delivered an inch perfect cross. He kept the centre halves honest throughout, and then struck a stunning free kick.... What more do you want from the bloke, a hat-trick every week!?

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SaintNick added 13:23 - Mar 13 To be fair the excitement of the win blurred the game a bit for me and i had forgotten his efforts for the equaliser, but I dont think he had a great game, I also haveto give Kelvin credit for the save , but again we were poor at the back at times, the same things happening tight for long periods then mistakes, we got punished for poor defending for their goal and luckily didnt on the penalty claim. I try to give an overview for people who werent there, try to tell them the reasons behind crucial part sof the game and i try not to let emotion overcome the truth. It was a great win and i certainly celebrated it, but I dont think we played that well and as i said when we start to it will frighten sides

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AdkinsBabies added 13:33 - Mar 13 Yeah course, I wasn't having a go as such, although it does annoy me a little, the constant stick Lambert has got this season. If he picks up an injury, I think most will realise when he is not there, just how much he contributes to the team. The other thing I would say, is that we are a League One side essentially, aiming to be higher of course. We took on a team, that for large parts of this season, have been in the top two (Above us) and pushing for automatic promotion. We have to expect that they are going to cause us to have a few nervy moments. That's why, with that in mind, I though we did well at the back. Only maybe Hudd, Posh and Brightion away could be tougher fixtures in this league than that game yesterday. To limit Bournemouth to a penalty claim, and an effort off the bar, besides their early goal, is pretty decent. That's just my opinion of course, maybe I'm a little too positive at times.

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131153 added 14:42 - Mar 13 Thanks AdkinsBabies your perspective on the game seems pretty measured to me, and your point about the more difficult away games is reasonable. I'm going to miss my first home game on Saturday but will get the chance to see it on Sky. Let's hope we burst the TV bubble well and truly.
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DJI added 16:35 - Mar 13 Nick, you always say that you give an unemotional report but in this case it read as "we were poor and lucky to get a win"! Well I listened on the radio and although in the first half we didn't take the game to them, in the 2nd half we were far better and got Adam and Chambo in to the game much more. But if I hadn't have listened, I wouldn't have got that from your report!? As for saying poor defending led to their goal, from the tv highlights I would have described that as "they got lucky" as Deano cleared the ball but it hit Butters in the head and bounced back. Not sure how you can say that was poor defending as it just happened that way? As others have said too, Lambert played his part and made and scored a goal. We can talk about 'what might have beens" but the bottom line is, we beat a team for the 3rd time this season and came back from a goal down. That is a positive worth noting. AFCB have been higher up L1 than us for most of the season and you are disrespectful of them to suggest that we shouldn't have been taking any attacks from them at all? Until this week, they had a similar GD to us, even after selling their 2 best strikers, which suggests they will attack teams whoever they are. Sorry but I don't buy your "I try to give an overview for people who werent there, try to tell them the reasons behind crucial parts of the game...." Don't expect rose-tinted but this match report from you was the opposite to what you say. Other reports you have given have been far more detailed about the match yet this one was a few sentences on how we were poor and then opinion about our conduct over the remainder of the season (which most fans can work out for themselves without attending). Having met you, I know you can be far more optimistic than this so please try and be a bit more upbeat when we grind out a result away from home against a team in form!

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SaintNick added 16:55 - Mar 13 Fair points from all of you and reflecting back a litle i think its fair to say that the tension of the occasion did maybe make the game seem a lot more difficult than it might have looked to the neutral. I still think the goal was poor defending though, he had plenty of time and space to clear the ball, to hit a team mate was careless. Yes we did restrict them to few chances but that doesnt reflect the amount of pressing they were doing, but for once we had a slice of luck and we took our chances when they came

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Kiwifiedpom added 20:23 - Mar 13 From my distant perspective the SaintsPlayer commentary and the brief Highlights all I can get is an overall impression and what Merrington says. He has commented that we have defended to deeply in the last game and again on Saturday. Often saying we had all our players defending, which sounds like at times we parked the bus. Cetainly many defensive clearances were said to be returned by Bournemouth. So poor marks there. The Highlights indicate that their goal was lucky, but it was an unstoppable shot. Our equaliser came from Lamberts persistence in chasing down a ball into the corner and his subsequent pinpoint cross to Barnard resulted in a fortunate error on their goalkeepers part. Honours even. Hammonds goal was from good play and Lamberts free kick was old time Lambert. The SaintsPlayer stats showed that we had most poession. KDs save was brilliant

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Spot51 added 09:45 - Mar 14 So much more than just 3 points. Leaves us very much on the front foot. Orient will cross the points gap and contest the playoff places. Bournemouth now need to ensure they are not the team that misses out.
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wazzosan added 05:46 - Mar 15 Appreciate the match reports Nick. As someone living outside of the UK, it is great to get a breakdown of the match. Saints Player only really shows the highlights.
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daveysaint added 23:15 - Mar 15 Nick...I can name another massive positive from Lambert...the equaliser was down to his determination and fantastic cross to Barnard...?!!!
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