This was always going to be a game where winning it meant a lot more than the scoreline, this was a very satisfying win !
There were many who came to St Mary's on Sunday to criticise Claude Puel and his tactics, but in the main they left happy at a win and unable to level much stick at the French manager.
It was a slightly strange line up in some respects, out went Charlie Austin and there was no room for Hojbjerg a player many consider to have been as good as anyone in the opening weeks, but in the end the manager was proved right in the way he picked his team and made the right changes at the right times.
The first half was frustrating, but there was nothing wrong with the way we were playing or how we contained a Swansea side and once again left Fraser Forster with little to do, the issue was with taking chances, we looked nervy in front of goal, but the good sign was that we weren't hiding.
This gave the perception to many that we were playing badly, I would disagree with that, with every game we seem to settle in to the formation a little better and again we dominated, there has only been one thing wrong with our game and that has been goals.
The fans certainly disagreed with the manager on the forward line, they all thought that Charlie Austin should have started, but again I can see why Puel kept him in reserve, Austin does not look fit and starting him again after Thursday might have been a little bit much for him, Puel got it spot on with this decision.
Nathan Redmond came i for some stick and it cannot be argued that his shooting was woeful, but he was fast he hassled defenders and he got into good positions, he did not hide even after missing a good chance he was looking for the next one.
Perhaps those who say the team spirit is not there would do well to look at two incidents in quick succession in the first half, the first saw Redmond burst through with the options of either blasting the ball past the keeper or laying it across the goal for an easy tap in for Shane Long, in the end he opted for neither and hit the ball well wide bringing a very visible rebuke from Long.
Minutes later Redmond did everything right except score and again the ball went high and wide leaving the player on the ground devastated and the crowd hurling their derision, but Long made a point of running 25 yards to the prone Redmond, picking him up and encouraging him.
The second half seemed to be starting the same way as the first, then came Puel's masterstroke, off went Clasie and Long, neither of whom were playing badly and on came Hojbjerg and Austin and the game upped a level.
But for the first ten minutes not a lot changed, it is funny how crowds perceive a player, before he scored Austin missed the chance of the match yet hardly a murmur was heard from the crowd, the irony should not be lost here, if it had been Redmond then the reaction would have been a lot different.
But a goal was not long in coming and again it was Dusan Tadic a candidate for man of the match who created it, crossing for Austin who took his time chested the ball down and blasted it in from close range.
You always felt that Saints needed a second, but although we had plenty of opportunities it would not come and that mean't we had to keep our first clean sheet in the Premier League since February.
This we did with relative ease although Fraser Forster had to make one decent save to keep the scores level.
But again Claude Puel read the game correctly, with Swansea attacking down our left flank and double teaming Cedric, Puel went for caution and took off Tadic and brought on Martina to sit in front of Cedric and quell the threat.
A vital win for Saints as it took the pressure off the manager and the team, I do not subscribe to the fact that we have been playing badly or the system does not work or the players can't play it, 80% of the problem has been our failure to take our chances and 20% luck, in many respects on Sunday we played no better or worse that the last two home games, but the difference was that we kept it tight at the back and took our chance when it came.
We should now give the manager a chance to show that he can take us forward, this time last year we had six points from our opening five games, not much better than this season's five from six, so this is something the fans need to take on board, give the manager and certain players some leeway.
The season is now going to get tougher with games coming thick and fast, there is no reason why it should not be a good time for us and an exciting one, we just need to look back at how we started the last two seasons, not much different to this one, the future is still bright, ts just not Orange any more.