A disappointing day, a dour game with both sides failing to produce their best form and the game being settled by the only shot on target in the entire match, but I enjoyed it for several reasons and although some will say otherwise it is better to have reached this stage and lost than not reach it at all.

This verdict won't feature much about the game for several reasons, the first is there aren't many incidents of note in it and the second I watched it in a pub garden where 100 or so Saints supporters roared on their team with gusto, it was perhaps not as good as being in the stadium itself, but it was a close second.

The game itself was a damp squid, Saints certainly played with a spirit that was lacking last Monday at the Hawthorns, but in short both sides cancelled each other out and failed to be able to get their strikers into the game.

From a Saints perspective the back four played as it did earlier in the season and protected Fraser Forster in goal and at the other end Leicester's defence did the same.

From this viewpoint we cannot complain about the team or the tactics, they gave their all and Ralph Hasenhuttl wasted no time in trying to change things in the second half when we went a goal behind and indeed in the final stages, but Leicester are a good well organised team and sometimes that is the way it goes.

In the case of this game as I said both sides cancelled each other out, the possession was slightly in Saints favour at 51%, the attempts slightly in Leicester's 10 against our 6, but in the end the only stat that counted was the shots on target and in the entire game there was only one and that was the goal.

Games like this are won by luck and Leicester had it, the initial shot was going six yards wide when it hit Jannik Vestergaard and rebounded to Iheanacho who suddenly found himself 8 yards out with a wide open goal gaping and he obliged.

No one can be blamed for this that is the FA Cup and what it is renowned for , freak goals that change games and indeed seasons.

Perhaps some will disagree with my view and claim it was a dull game and Saints failed to get a shot on target, I can't argue with that, but Saints didn't achieve that stat by sitting back and being overwhelmed, they played their part and attacked the Foxes, but sadly on the day it was Leicester who got the luck.

Perhaps my viewpoint is a little tainted, those sat on their sofa's could sit back and analyse the game, I was in a pub garden surrounded by a dozen or so mates and loads of other Saints fans, all socially distanced of course .

We had one TV screen to watch in on and to be blunt for many it was the first time in 13 months they were experiencing what football is all about, we might have been 80 miles from Wembley, but we supported the team as if we were in the ground, there was singing, shouting and leaping from seats at key moments, almost as good as being at a game itself, with the added advantage that unlike at a normal game where you can't have a beer in your seat, we had waitress service so didn't need to leave it to buy and drink one.

So my day is slightly rose tinted, I wasn't watching the game with the idleness we have become used to as armchair fans for the last year, I was enjoying a game of football in the manner in which up until March of last year we all took for granted.

So although I'm disappointed at the result and I'm sure the team is as well, I enjoyed the game and the chance to watch Saints in an FA Cup semi final, the pattern of the game was set, we tried to change it but couldn't, but we were up against a team currently sitting 3rd in the Premier League, one of the most consistent teams in the division in the last couple of years, we played them at their own game and although we lost we can walk away with our heads held high, we matched them in every department bar one and that was strokes of good luck.

Brendan Rodgers is claiming that this win is the sign that Leicester are ready to kick on and show they can challenge for trophies on a regular basis, we are behind them in that respect, but we did show that we can reach the semi finals of the most famous cup competition in the World and compete, we are still a work in progress, but Sunday at Wembley showed that we have some solid foundations to build on.

Photo: Action Images

underweststand added 16:23 - Apr 19 Mmm.. ..somehow think I must have been watching another TV channel than you Nick. Disappointing is first word that comes to mind, and despite the fact that Leicester had a lot of good players on view, we can be glad that many of them had " an off day ", and losing by such a sloppy goal didn't make the result look any better either. The phrase "over-awed by the occasion " comes freely to mind with Saints' display, but (sadly) I wasn't totally surprised. We can all highlight past games where certain players did well, but very few got a good rating on the day and our last ditch performance may have looked impressive, but has become commonplace and often fruitless of late. As soon as we can get to the certain "survival level", points-wise - expect Ralph to start giving game time to younger / bench players as from here until the end of the season EVERYONE will be playing for their places, and some will make way for newer talents - if we find any in the summer and that will become our priority for next season. Once again we fell at the " Semi-final hurdle" , (I've seen a few of those in the last six decades) but even after a good Cup run, we didn't look like a side likely to win the trophy.

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YosemiteSaint added 18:04 - Apr 19 FWIW, my "conspiracy theory" is that players may like working for Ralph. But they also know that his relentlessness will get them injured, and they don't want to lose transfer value (over extended injury) with the summer transfer window just around the corner. Ralph's Saints tenure may well be ending as well; its outcomes these past three months make Sparky's look fantastic! So we have a bunch of wantaways wearing our shirts for the next four weeks. Prepare for a big overhaul this summer.

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saintpete01 added 19:08 - Apr 19 The saying in football and all field sport is Don’t Leave anything out there on the pitch Unfortunately we left bucket loads Don’t look in the mirror lads
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Flamingbankers added 10:35 - Apr 21 For once I agree with Nick and enjoyed his report. Saints tried hard , played fairly well and were unlucky - what else can you do? Saints also should have had a had a stonewall penalty and Soyuncu should have been arrested for assault on Ings. Amazing how incidents like this are ignored against the Saints or perhaps not surprising after the usual ignorance from uninterested and biased commentators. Vestergaard and Bednarek played well and were unlucky with the ricocheted goal. Not having a strong man ,like Romeu, in the centre of midfield, lost it I feel. Virtually all Leicester attacks came from centre midfield; passing through the middle or nudging it either side. We missed a strong presence there; blocking their impetus forward , setting up ours. Meanwhile Leicester's defence and midfield held firm. Alack of useful penetration from our midfield meant our forwards were hardly going to stand a chance of getting a decent shot on target. Playing Adams and Tella might have added more gristle and speed up front. We did great to get to the semi but we march on to more important business, in my opinion, in the league away to Tottenham.

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