A tale from the snowy wastes of St Andrews as Saints took a deserved point off of Birmingham City in a somewhat drab game.

Birmingham started the livelier of the two sides but in difficult conditions Saints dug in as Nigel Adkins fielded an unchanged side from the one that started against Cardiff, surprisingly opting to keep Billy Sharp on the bench whilst omitting Tadanari Lee from even a place on it.

But Saints got to grips with the game and finished the stronger side, but in truth neither side troubled the keeper much, in the second half it was pretty much the the same although Brum forced the only real saves of the game from Kelvin Davis with the Saints keeper having to be agile right after the break and brave later on in blocking a shot at close range.

The good thing though is Saints seemed to be getting some sort of confidence and team spirit back, certainly even after losing Danny Fox to a second yellow card, both for innoccuos challenges, Saints looked to have a resolve about them that hasnt been there in the past two months and you would hope that this is something that they can now build on further.

In summary, Saints didnt play that well, but what they were was well organised and determined, but perhaps more they knew what they had to do and howw to do it.

If there is a God he surely seems to want Saints to get automatic promotion, before even a ball was kicked, Saints could have been knocked down to 3rd, but Cardiff's home dfeat meant that not only did Saints stay second but they even gained a point on the Welsh side, but again it leaves Saints supporters looking at the table and thinking if only we had had just a poor run over the past two months, we would still be top, that fact that it has been appalling and we are still second is somewhat amazing.

In the short term this point is still not great in that it means we have still barely averaged a point a game in well over two months and that isnt good, but it could bbe the point that changes the season and we have come through two tough games this week unbeaten, however it will mean nothing unless we can start winning and start winning fast.

Saints fans who didnt travel should spare a thought for those 1,600 who made the two hour journey up and then faced a nightmare six or seven hour journey home through deep snow and ice roads, luckily for me I picked the right day to accept corporate hospitality.      

Photo: Action Images

rjh added 22:03 - Feb 5 Fantastic effort by Saints fans. After the performance against Leicester I would never have expected us to still be second following games against Cardiff and Birmingham. The fact that we are just shows that this club will never have a better chance of going up.
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SaintNick added 22:31 - Feb 5 It was and as I haave said we have a great chance of going up still despite almost a dozen games with barely a point a game average, we have looked a gift horse in the mough once already this season, lets not do it again
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bstokesaint added 06:26 - Feb 6 I think the snow ruined our chances of winning the game. We are probably the best passing team in this division and the conditions werent conducive to our game at all. We definitely tried, but it was very frustrating not to get a result. A point isn't a disaster, but we need to pull away from 3rd place. The referee needs to take a good long look at his embarrassing decisions for Fox's sending off. I was more disappointed with the first yellow, because it won't be long before the slide tackle is abolished completely. And then what? No contact at all?

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simmo400 added 06:27 - Feb 6 The 1600 saints fans that made the trip I applaud you a brave effort as it was on tv as well this was an excellent turn out in terrible conditions. A few question though. Why was Billy Sharpe not playing ? Connoly was totally off the boil again and we had his ideal replacement just sat watching ? Did the stat on the tv just show one effort on target for Saints ? I must have missed that chance. Even though we had alot of play we really cant create the yard of space required for some reason. Yes conditions were bad but in the last few games we have played we have struggled to envolve the oppositions keeper. This is why we bought Sharpe wasnt it ? Final word,Danny Fox unlucky to be get 2 yellows but must really work on his pass completion.

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bstokesaint added 06:27 - Feb 6 I think the snow ruined our chances of winning the game. We are probably the best passing team in this division and the conditions werent conducive to our game at all. We definitely tried, but it was very frustrating not to get a result. A point isn't a disaster, but we need to pull away from 3rd place. The referee needs to take a good long look at his embarrassing decisions for Fox's sending off. I was more disappointed with the first yellow, because it won't be long before the slide tackle is abolished completely. And then what? No contact at all?

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bstokesaint added 06:30 - Feb 6 Spot on Simmo. Connolly not only not looked sharp recently, but spends most of his time in offside positions. There is nothing to be gained from starting Sharp on the bench and don't know why Lee was dropped..
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saintBob added 08:19 - Feb 6 The last 10 or 11 games need to be forgotten and should not be dwelt on. We are 2nd and the team seem to be getting back to form so let's look forward! It was a good point on Saturday and it was a shame that it wasn't a 3pm kick-off or even lunch-time one(thanks Sky!) because it would have been played in near normal conditions. I think West Ham were lucky to have their 2nd goal allowed in their game and they don't seem to be playing that well albeit with 10 men for best part of the game. With our form improving and hopefully Lee and Sharp both settling in soon, I'm hopeful that we can take 3 points off them on the 14th. With Saints spirit returning we have shown in the last two games we can put up a battle having played two of the top sides in this league. The most important thing now is to win at home on Saturday. COYR!

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Stephen added 08:36 - Feb 6 The most important thing now is to win tomorrow.
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Olley added 08:47 - Feb 6 I believe based on all the recent performance / negativity in the past month or so, this was a good point based on the opposition. That said I believe that Davis did 2 very important saves, 1 at full stretch in the conditions was very good, so I am not 1 to praise him often, on this occasion I will. Now we need to concentrate on the next 3 league games & look to have 7 points added to our total by the end of this little run. The Cup game is for me another opportunity to let other players get a game & to bring some to full fitness COYRs

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ThereIn76 added 09:18 - Feb 6 Well done to the fans who went and totally outsung the Brummies. I thought Aaron Martin has been outstanding in the last two matches - when Hooiveld it fit again he won't necessarily come straight back in. Conversely Richardson seems to have forgotten how to cross - against Cardiff and Brum he had opportunities to put quality crosses in and fluffed his lines every time. Any why oh why did Lambert not have a shot from that free kick in the closing minutes? As it was the professional foul on Guly that led to it denied us the win. Still, the confidence is returning and the wins will start coming again soon.

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birminghamsaint added 10:00 - Feb 6 I would have settled for a point before the game began and we were clearly the better footballing side with most of the possession. Saying that however there were really few clear cut chances for either team. Saints don't do shooting, so we rarely get the lucky deflected goals that sometimes go against us and creating danger from corners seem to be a non event at the moment. Star man for me was Aaron Martin.

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stmichael added 10:07 - Feb 6 The thing for me is that the organisation and team spirit is back. We have played our 2 main rivals for promotion and were so obviously better than both and they will know that too. Martin & Fonte were superb as was our number 1. Trust me he will be our keeper for years to come - he is excellent. Danny Fox was unlucky to be sent off but he worried me Saturday. So nearly gave away a penalty with a wild lunge second half and looks like a man under pressure for his place. Come through this month in 2nd place and we will be in a great position. March and April looks much friendlier (on paper!).

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bstokesaint added 12:10 - Feb 6 I like Therein's point about the free kick. When was the last time we scored directly from a free kick? Both Lambert and Fox are supposed to be specialists, but we don't seem to be posing a threat when we get the opportunities. Likewise we win a lot of corners, but score very few goals from them. I seem to remember last season we pulled off a couple of superbly executed set pieces. Maybe this needs to be an area for us to work on if we're going to insist from shots in open play from close range. It's very frustrating as a fan because we play a lovely brand of football, but often (more recently) with no end result. West Ham on the other hand seem to forego some of the pretty stuff and be a bit more ruthless. Because results are going there way, luck seems to follow. That always seems to be the way.

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Whatsforpud added 12:43 - Feb 6 Ironically, in spite of the conditions, our midfield passing was the best for some time. However the crossing was poor. They couldn't seem to lift the ball off the deck, as though it was a wet old heavy leather ball. If we are going to opt to chip free kicks into the goal area, it would be better if Lambert was on the end of them, rather than taking them.
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sidsaint added 17:36 - Feb 6 Well done Saints fans for travelling in such conditions. I was surprised about how well we tried to play football in the snow and thought we showed great spirit and determination. The red card was not necessary. In many ways a draw was a fair result because of the weather. Now to use the Millwall game to give Lee some more experience, Chaplow a run out before the league on Saturday and Billy to show what he's made of.

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