Saints confirmed their best start for 31 years, but Queens Park Rangers did not make it easy for them in a tough game that needed character and spirit to win it.

Saints supporters had a big smile on their faces as they left St Mary's on Saturday, the fact that Chelsea had gone to form and beaten Aston Villa and thus prevented Saints from topping the league was an aside, what was making them smile was the fact that Saints had won a game with not only domination and quality but when it hadn't gone their way they had the guts to dig in and win it.

On another day it could have been a rout, the pattern was set early on and Saints had a series of chances which were well set up but they couldn't quite find a finish due to the determination from a QPR side who looked like they had come for a battle.

The scoreless first half was perhaps a disappointment to the home fans but cases could be made for it being fair or unfair to both teams, Saints had played a lot of nice football but as mentioned there wasn't the finish there, Tadic hit a post and Schneiderlin placed a shot just wide but Rangers were digging in and the longer the game went on the more hope they got.

The game changed on 54 minutes when Mane rescued an overhit cross, held the ball up and then sublimely backheeled it for Plastic Bertrand to hammer it past Green in the visitors goal.

You had the feeling then that Sains would start to bury Rangers and initially that looked the case with a couple of good chances that should have been buried, but the next goal would fall to Charlie Austin who swivelled and volleyed home for an equaliser and what looked like being the goal of the game.

But the lead would last only a couple of minutes, Shane Long with his first touch after coming on as sub crossed for Pelle who flicked the ball up and then swivelled to bury the ball in the far corner for a goal that probably shaded Austin's effort in the goal of the match stakes.

Saints should really have closed off the game in the last 20 minutes or so but couldnt quite find a third, Rangers only moment of danger came when Kranjcar firstly throwing himslef to the ground to win a free kick and then rattling the crossbar with it, although in fairness I thought Forster had it covered if it had been lower.

All in all though a satisfying win for Saints, ok it hadn't been the rout that we had hoped for, but it highlighted the spirit we have on the field and the tactical nous we have on the bench, make no bones about this we would have drawn this match last year, perhaps even lost it,but as the game pattern changed Ronald Koeman had the nous to change his team and he wasn't afraid to do so.

Indicative of this was the decision to take Mane off immediately after the QPR equaliser, to some that would appear folly with Mane having been at the heart of many Saints attacks, but Koeman knew that Mane was tiring after a hard week and was also on a yellow card and we couldnt afford to lose him if he mis timed a tackle, on came Long who had an immediate impact on crossing for the Pelle piledriver and had a few chances himself.

Saints now have great attacking options, Pelle is the focal point of many of them, be it as a target man to play into and bring others into play or as the man who finishes the move, Mane offers pace and guile as shown with his back heel for Bertrand's goal and how he payed in Morgan Schneiderlin for his chance in the first half. Dusan Tadic is well, Dusan Tadic he is at the heart of everything and makes it happen.

The option of Shane Long should not be underestimated either,he has a good work rate and a phenomenal burst of speed, he had an impact yesterday and is as good as most clubs in this division will have coming off the bench.

There was no smashing of Harry Redknapp's team into the ground as many hoped, but there was the satisfaction of knowing that we have a team that can adapt to any situation and win when things don't go our way, when we need to we can out pass teams, but conversely when we have to get stuck in we can do that as well, we have a flair about us that I haven't see since the days of Le Tiss, Shearer and the Wallace brothers in the 89/90 season when we finished 7th, but unlike that team we have steel at the back, so we have the opportunity to better their exploits and we could well do that.

What this game proved was that Koeman has not only built a squad to adapt to whatever situation is needed, but he has the nous to steer it at crucial times.

Man of the match
Given the obvious candidates, Pelle for his overall play and goal, Tadic for his usual trickery and Mane for his great home debut, a game like this that ultimately came down to graft and work rate, my choice is Steven Davis, Ronald Koeman is rotating his central midfielders to a degree and all have their merits, Davis tough is the real unsung hero, eek in week out he puts in a top knotch display without which in many occasions the ball wouldnt get to the three players mentioned to allow them to do their magic.

Davis links our defence with attack, wins the ball and does the simple things well, when he is doing them it's easy to overlook them, when they aren't being done is when you notice he isn't there, yesterday he got on with it, never stopped running, never stopped playing simple balls into the right areas and made sure that QPR never got to dominate the centre of the park.

Photo: Action Images

corkcitysaint added 10:34 - Sep 28 Totally agree about Davis Nick. The "quiet man" of the team. Unlucky with his shot on goal. Deserved to score. Keeps his head down and just gets on with it.
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COYS1947 added 10:38 - Sep 28 Agree with man of the match, but everyone played well. My only thought was that with Mane on the pitch Tadjic plays on the right and I feel the side is much better balanced with Tadjic on the left and Long on the right. Still a ground out win and having been on the end of some muggings in the past it is a welcome result. COYS
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landsdownsaint added 10:39 - Sep 28 I got to say that you're spot on with regards how Ronko can change tactics in a game ! & you're also right that Mopo couldn't ,I loved last season but this could be better !
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welhamdowed added 10:45 - Sep 28 Very impressive win, in previous years we might not have got anything from that game. I thought out final ball was average at times with tadic on the right not as comfortable as on the left. But to be fair it's early days since mane joined and we seem to really pose a threat going forward. At home most teams will come and defend, and we have that quality to unlock a solid defence. I wonder if Mrs Koeman will get her shopping trip with hubby this week? Or José will plead with the gaffer to cancel it?

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1970 added 10:54 - Sep 28 I agree with earlier comments about Tadic playing on the left i would of loved to have seen Tadic & Mane continually swapping that would of destroyed Rangers never mind great win,great to hear the Northam tear strips off Redknap and typical skate to dive to get a free kick which nearly went in,now beat the y**s coyr.
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slynch added 11:00 - Sep 28 Still second AND pulling away from the field!
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ThereIn76 added 11:07 - Sep 28 I actually thought Saints wouldn't win this match and it's to their great credit that they did win. I expect a lot of teams will try to frustrate us and nick a breakaway goal so it's great that we were still able to find a way through. I wonder whether we would've won without Wednesday's extra training session? (Is that a record for the number of consecutive words in a sentence beginning with W?) it's a sign of the professionalism and dedication in the squad. Maybe Ralph Kruger's been giving them some motivational speeches . . .

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slynch added 11:16 - Sep 28 ....he was giving one on Wednesday, that's why they pleaded to do extra training!
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Consigliere added 11:28 - Sep 28 Once again Saints 5th on MOTD despite being second in the league and the second best goal of the month (sorry but Clyne's on Tuesday was better for me). I suppose we shouldn't worry because anything that brings the attention of the management of other teams to our excellent performances may trigger another round of touting for our players but it is increasingly irritating that the BBC does its best to ignore all but the magic four.

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SaintGeorge added 15:01 - Sep 28 Anyone have a link to a video of highlights / goals? I've seen Graziano's moment of magic on that Vine gif but not Bertrand's, nor the QPR goal which I hear was good. I had to go on a sodding boat trip with my father in law. Why is it dads understand you've got to watch footy but wifes' dads don't?
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slynch added 15:54 - Sep 28 http://motdstream.com/
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SaintDownUnder added 16:24 - Sep 28 I get the impression that the mainstream media whilst being complementary are still waiting for the wheels to fall off. However I think we have a squad depth to maintain this form for a while yet. Liverpool aside, Spurs this weekend will be our first big test of the season, it'll be interesting to see the reaction if we beat them.
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slynch added 18:01 - Sep 28 Reading 3 Wolves 3 Saints have now got the best defence in the league.
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Consigliere added 20:28 - Sep 28 Slynch is right but what keeps the defence so tight is the excellence of the midfield. Just occasionally on Saturday, the opposition managed to get around the back and rattled the defence. This is something the manager will need to be very careful about.
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ExiledSupporter added 21:42 - Sep 28 Yep, fair enough in your comments Nick, But could I ask you to stop something which I don't appreciate and is becoming increasingly annoying, please... Let's drop the Plastic Bertrand reference, okay I don't get it anyway, but you have used it so often that it seems rather tired and is rather disrespectful to a player who deserves better treatment than this...it's below your usual high standards. So enough is enough...?

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redkraft added 05:49 - Sep 29 Plastic Bertrand (born Roger Allen François Jouret, 24 February 1954, Brussels[1]) is a Belgian musician, songwriter, producer, editor and television presenter, best known for the 1978 international hit single "Ça plane pour moi". From wikipedia
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slynch added 10:39 - Sep 29 Actually, Plastic Bertrand did not sing on his hit record, he wasn't around so the producer sang. Bertrand consequently mimed all the TV appearances.
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ExiledSupporter added 11:33 - Sep 29 Still don't see what is funny or clever or even appropriate about it as a nickname. Can anyone explain why this is anything more than rather lame humour of a rather low calibre?
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simmo400 added 13:06 - Sep 29 No mention of V Wanyama..........Nick......thought taking him off was very risky......we lost his tackiling back.....when we were struggling in the second half.
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BoondockSaint added 14:41 - Sep 29 Team looked a little tired, maybe they shouldn't have had the extra training after a mid-week game? This was game we would have lost last year, what's the difference? Oh, yeah a bunch of players with grit and a manager who knows football! Agree with posts that want Tadic on the left. Also about the "Plastic" nick name: Plastic has connotations of "fake" or "cheap". Disagree about Long, most times he's in Puncheon mode: next player to touch the ball is the opposition. Hopefully this changes. But I can't get "Ten Million" out of my head. In other news: Anyone see Scousehampton v Everton? Gerard goal was result of Balocrazy dive and Lallana was whinging and berating the ref as usual. Some things never change......

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