Saints did their part of the weekends business, eventually !

One thing that you learn wth Saints is that they never do anything the simple way and once again they made it hard for themselves by gifting MK Dons two goals against the run of play.

Saints started the game well and generally had the visitors on the back foot although in truth they werent really troubling the keeper when on 34 minutes the Dons took an unexpected lead and it was once again one of those set pieces that Saints should really defend better, quite simply a corner across the six yard box wasnt dealt with and a free header was gratefully accepted by McKenzie, how many times are we going to give this sort of goal away.

If the home fans though that they were going to see better things in the second half they were stunned seven minutes after the break, MK Dons broke quickly and you have to ask questions about Kelvin Davis's positioning and the way he allowed himself to be beaten on the near post, after seeing the goal again on TV Butterfield's last gasp lunge deflected the ball, but it didnt change the direction merely loped it slightly.

After ten minutes or so of Saints not getting back into the game something needed to be changed and supporters were relieved to see that Nigel Adkins was not going to sit on his hands, he made two substitutions in the space of a minute, firstly Forte came on for Chaplow and then confusion reigned on the second as it first appeared that Dale Stephens was replacing Lee Barnard, as Barnard headed to the touchline there was an air of booing, but it turned out that the number nine coming off was not Barnard but the visitors striker and after that swap hd been done it was Guly coming off.

Within a minute Saints were back in it when Forte volleyed home a cross from close range, two minutes later and he had doubled his tally when he tapped home as the keeper could only parry a well hit low cross from Harding, the game and the atmosphere was being cranked up a level.

Ten minutes later and Barnard showed why he is probably the one player who should be on for the whole 90 minutes when he took a pass from Lambert and fired home to make it three goals for Saints in eleven minutes and the turnaround was complete.

But Saints being Saints they did not let their fans have an easy time of it in the closing stages, after Lallana had almost put the game beyond doubt with a mazy run that saw his shot just past the post, the visitors threw everything at Saints, in defence the home side were shaky and with three minutes to go they really should have cleared an attack but ended up giving away a silly free kick from which the Dons hit the bar.

When five minutes of injury went up on the board some were surprised, but they forgot that all six subs had been used, there had been a couple of injuries and the time wasting of the Dons keeeper, now Saints fans & players were wishing that they hadnt been berating the ref to stop the watch earlier in the half when the keeper had been blatantly wasting time at goal kicks and the visitors came at Saints as they had nothing to lose, on reflection Saints held out strongly but at the time it was tense, the one moment that the Dons had was when they put the ball in the box and Kelvin came for it but didnt make what looked like being a routine catch but punched instead, it was a goos punch and some would say positive, but at that moment we needed that bit of calm that would have been brought by the keeper getting the ball and giving his defence time to re group.

All in all a good win for Saints and a vital one given that Huddersfield won, but we have to stop giving away silly goals, three efforts on target on our goal and two conceded is not good reading and is sadly not a rare occurrence, we have to tighten up in the run in.

The fans got behind Saints and kept behind them even after they saw the team two down and thats good to see, the gate was higher than it has been recently and thats good, but with four home games left now, it would be good to see a few more starting to come in, yesterdays gate was no better than the numbers we were getting this time last season and back then there was noting to play for.   

Photo: Action Images

DJI added 09:32 - Apr 3 It was an entertaining game but certainly uncomfortable when we were two nil down against the run of play as you say Nick. On your comment regarding Kelvin, I had a good view of that and it looked like he couldn't catch it because Jose was right underneath it and that would've risked him dropping it. I fully agree with you about Barney, he goal was taken really well and it was well deserved for someone who has been for me, one of our most consistent players this season. His work rate is fantastic and it was good to see him run the ball into the corner on the break to relieve the pressure at the end. I was screaming at times but like others, left the match very happy to see Saints fight their way back into the game and get the win. I also thought the crowd were simply fantastic too, constantly trying to push the lads on, especially when we conceded the 2nd goal. But when we started scoring, I thought the roof of St. Mary's was going to lift off and it was nice to see Adkins acknowledge what the fans did today as significant. Does anyone know why Butters was subbed? I thought he had another good game and put some excellent tackles in first half to stop MK getting into our box. Someone sat next to me said he was to blame for their 2nd which made me pretty mad, as he shouldn't have even been put under that pressure as our midfield and his defensive colleagues should have stopped it getting that far. I did think RL looked knackered yesterday in the 1st half and that didn't help us going forward against a disciplined back 4 as it meant at times, Barney was on his own. Harding put a few balls in behind them but no-one was anticipating and getting across their keeper, which was wasteful for me. If they get given offside, MK win possession, which is the same as no-one challenging and their keeper catching it!? I do think our strikers could do with making more running into the box and making the opposition keeper think a bit more, and raise our chances of a penalty if all goes wrong! Overall I am a happy Saints fans today though!

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the_rover added 10:06 - Apr 3 Great report Nick. Spot on I'd say.
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splurty added 10:06 - Apr 3 Good points from you both ,I am kelvins biggest critic but I thought he had no chance with that goal as It was not only deflected albeit slightly but also went like a bullet .In the last 10 ish games home and away I have been shocked at his improvement as he has become a far more positive keeper (it must be down to ex keeper Nigel) long may it continue ,also liked the look of dale stephens composure in a frenetic game ,this bodes well for a pressured run in .Well done lads .Championship here we come !! COYR

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sidsaint added 13:20 - Apr 3 Very exciting game but we must be more clinical when we have so much possession. Thought Ricky was lacklustre yet again but he was there to make the pass for the winner. Even so we can't afford to carry anyone in the run in. Richard Chaplow also seems to be less interested so Stevens could be a good signing. Huddersfield are catchable but it's going to be a nervous April. COYR

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rjh added 18:48 - Apr 3 Need to make it count now against Charlton with two tough away games coming up. Great comeback.
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kcaj1164retsof added 19:11 - Apr 3 I really do wish Saints would desist from 'matching up' with opposition formation. Saints always perform better playing 4-4-2. We should play to our own strengths regardless of what the opponts put out. Fort was brought in as Chamberlain's shadow and should therefore have been in from the start!
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bstokesaint added 06:53 - Apr 4 A great, if not nervy result. Can't agree with everything said though. I think kelvin was generally positive in goal and came out well to clear on a couple of occasions. Also wouldn't fault with the second goal. I'd have fancied my chances as a striker once I'd gotten into the box at that angle, and there was the deflection. For me butterfield looked uncomfortable on a number of occasions and the manager did well to sure things up with the more pacey Richardson towards the end. I also wouldn't say anything critical of lambert because his constant knock ons and hold ups, not to mention passes like the he gave for barneys goal show why he's on the pitch. Very unselfish player. I'd also like to take back what I said about rj midweek. I think with the exception of the goal from the corner he was virtually faultless in every tackle and header. We just need to stop the concentration lapses.

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