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Saints V Bournemouth The Verdict

Ahead of the game I pleaded for the fans to get behind the team and will them to their first home game in five months in the Premier League, Saints fans did just that and spurred the team on to victory.

The moaning was left at home for the first time in many moons and St Mary's trocked in a way it hasn't done at all this season as Saints supporters rallied to the cause in the team's hour of need, from the first whistle to the last the support was superb and showed our visitors from across the New Forest what they should aspire to rather than trying to stir up a rivalry that doesn't exist by the frequent use of the word scummer.

In many respects this followed the path of our last Premier League home win against Everton, complete domination in the first half and a one goal lead going into the break suddenly cancelled out with a goal out of nowhere, like that last win five months ago, this did not knock the wind out of our sails but made us more determined to win the game.

This was a team performance in the mode of old, if we had had half of our previous games with 3/4 of the passion on Saturday then we would not be in the trouble we are in.

There wasn't a player on the pitch who did not earn his money, some might question Nathan Redmond, but despite the game not going for him, he kept going and played a vital part in the first goal with a clever flick and simple pass to Lemina that meant that suddenly the Bournemouth defence was exposed and another simple but effective ball left Tadic with just the keeper to beat which he did clinically.

That put us in total command and suddenly Saints were a team again, with the crowd roaring them on we looked like we would put the Cherries to the sword, but in first half injury time we shot ourselves in the foot by conceding a soft goal.

Bournemouth seem to play in bursts, they cannot play for 90 minutes with the high tempo they need, so they sit back and then have a couple of power plays in each half, this was the case on the stroke of half time, the writing was on the wall and we switched off, in the space of 2 minutes they firstly had Ake turn Yoshida and see his shot well saved by McCarthy's leg, then they got free down the right and it needed Lemina to work hard to get back and block at the expense of a corner, that saw the ball flicked on to the back post where King ran off his marker and had a free chance from close range.

But if Saints fans fought they would see another collapse they were wrong the team came out more determined than before and ten minutes after the break it was Tadic again.

Mark Hughes seemed to have read Eddie Howe's tactics perfectly, he knew that in many respects they are one dimensional, they rely on short bursts of pressing, both goals came from similar situations, we won the ball and attacked quickly.

We did this not just on the two goals but on several other occasions that should have seen us put the game to bed long before the final whistle, the truth is we should have had at least two more goals and possibly three where we had attacked Bournemouth and left them exposed, but poor finishing meant that we had to go into the last ten minutes biting our nails.

But Mark Hughes got his substitutions right, Long coming on for Redmond brought work rate to push Bournemouth back, Hojberg on for Austin brought more muscle in the midfield and finally when Tadic went off to a standing ovation, James Ward Prowse brought someone who could hold up the ball and use it well.

Bournemouth of course pressed in the final minutes and they almost snatched it at the death, the shot taking a cruel deflection but McCarthy was equal to it and produced one of the saves of the season.

A man of the match is hard, certainly McCarthy could be named due to several smart saves during the 90 minutes and that wonder save in injury time, virtually the entire side could also lay some claim, all worked hard and played their part, but overall on the pitch it was Dusan Tadic, not only did he score two but he was a constant thorn in Bournemouth's side and should have had a couple of assists to his name as well if his colleagues had finished with the same aplomb he did.

But perhaps the real man of the match was the 12th man, not Shane Long but the Saints supporters, they kept going for the full 90 minutes plus injury time and at the death the support was deafening as the crowd roared Saints on.

I have been critical of our support at times this season, but not on Saturday, they left the gripes at home and got on with the job of supporting their team, perhaps the clappers on the seats are a bit naff, but they also played a part, areas of the ground usually quite used them and they helped build up momentum in the crowd at times when nerves got the better.

But the main message from this game is belief, we finally seem to have found it both on and off the pitch, suddenly the sides above us are looking over their shoulders, we need to win at Everton and then we can dare to hope !

The final message is buy those Everton tickets and get up there, after all they are only £10 !

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