Saints got back into the groove away from home.
There are two min facts that need to be noted before we look at this game, the first is that this was a good Saints performance but the second is a cautionary note that Nottingham Forest were a very poor side.
Having acknowledged that they were a poor side we can look at the facts of the matter, Forest didnt play badly, they were just not good enough in all departments, they didnt lay down and die at any time during the game, they kept going right to the final whistle, because if they hadny of Saints would have hit six and in the final minutes almost did.
But you can only play what in front of you and from that point of view it was a great Saints victory, the team still lacked a bit of shape and seemed for most of the game to not have a right midfielder but Dan Harding pushing forward into the space and from this it should be noted that although this worked against Forest I would not like to see it being tried against a better side, but horses for courses it worked for this game.
In truth from the opening minutes Saints looked comfortable in a way that they havent done away from home in a long time, they dealt with the Forest attacks easily and you sensed as the game went on they would grow in confidence and get back their passing game, the key was always going to be getting the first goal, and do that they did.
From then on it was a case of making sure that we made no errors ourselves, Steve Cotterill will claim the game turned on the sending off shortly after the break, after seeing in again on TV I have to say I thionk it was a sending off, I agree he didnt swing an elbow, but he lead with his arm and thats risky, if you catch a player then its a red card for dangerous play end of story, yes another ref might only have given yellow, but they would be wrong and this ref was right, too many players and managers dont seem to understand the rules of the game, if you have your arms flying around, if the ball hits them its handball and if you catch someone else its dangerous play, just because he didnt do it with intent doesnt mean it wasnt dangerous.
But I dont think this would have altered the course of the game even if he hadnt been send off, in truth it actually buoyed up Forest a little and if anything kept them going a lot longer on adrenalin than they would have been if they had kept 10 men.
Shortly after the hour the home side were dead and buried when Connolly reacted quickly to a cross touched on by Scheiderlin that really was going nowhere until Connolly showed why he is such a clever and quick thinking player, Schneiderlin's long range goal should really have been stopped by the keeper.
From then on it was only a case of how many and only a couple of appalling air shots from Hooiveld and Martin, especially Martin lol aligned with several fine saves from the Forest keeper meant that the score stayed respectful for Forest, made all the more satisfying when we see how many first choice players were out, I would say Fonte, Richardson, Lambert & Chaplow would have all started if they had been fit.
Two special mentions, firstly Dean Hammond, he played a captains game and kept himself and the team going throughout and secondly Lee Holmes, there has been rumour of Holmes leaving, I feel Saints would be foolish to let him go, he showed in this cameo that the game is all about end product, he might not have the speed of De Ridder, but he knows how to get in position, control a ball and use it with only the best save of the match denying him a goal.
A good win, but we need to be cautious this was against the side with the poorest home record, it was a step in the right direction though and that cant be stressed enough, it is something to build on and confidence building for the two important home games to come, win them both and we will have taken gigantic steps towards the Premiership.