It wasnt spectacular, but Saints got the job done against Doncaster Rovers at St Mary's and extended their lead between first and third place to nine points.
In truth the first half against Doncaster was very lacklustre, Rovers had come for a point and seemed content to sit back and let Saints dictate the tempo, the problem was though, that Saints opted to keep the pace slow, seemingly confident that they could pass their way through the visitors defence and that superior skill would win the day, sadly this wasnt the case as Saints struggled to get accurate balls into the front two, when half time came and it was goaless it was clear that something had to change, including the slow pace of the game, Doncaster had several "big" names in the side including Diouf and Chimbonda, my feeling was if the pace was upped they wouldnt be interested in upping their game, in short they would go through the motions.
The first change in the second half though was a blow, Rickie Lambert limped off with a knock and was replaced by Richard Chaplow, however this would change the flow of the game, Chaplow came into the midfield with Steve De Ridder pushed up front and we looked a far better unit in the centre of the park for it.
It didnt take long for the vital goal to come after this change, once again it was an accurate corner from Danny Fox that created the goal as he put the ball just ion the area that a striker begs for and Billy Sharp didnt need asking twice as he thumped home a header to put Saints 1-0 up.
Saints now had the upper hand they now just had to make sure that they didnt let Doncaster back in the game, the second change on 67 minutes was unsurprising, Steve De Ridder has a part to play in Saints season but its becoming very clear that its not in the starting line up, once again he failed to deliver, pace has its place in the game but for Steve Im afraid it should be coming off the bench as an impact player.
Saints now looked a far more solid outfit now in all departments and all it needed was a second goal and again it was Sharp who delivered, shrugging off a challenge when he saw a moments hesitation and putting himself one on one with the keeper, he did what he does well and put Saints two up.
Nigel Adkins seeing that the game was won and wanting to keep it that way, took off Lallana for the more defensive Hammond and Saints saw out the last twenty minutes comfortably.
All in all a good day at the office, several players had questions asked of them as they came back into the side and in the main they all answred positively, Billy Sharp with a buzzing performance capped with two goals, Danny Butterfield with a solid display at right back which suggests that although he doesnt have the attacking flair and pace of Fraser Richardson, he is a better defender, Lee Barnard gave a great little cameo in the last twenty minutes or so suggesting that that with injuries to key men up front he might just be up to contributing a lot more than he has had the chance to do so far if called upon.
All eyes to Peterborough on Tuesday night now, this season is now very much in Saints hands and a couple of more wins will see us virtually over the finishing line.