Printer-friendly pageSaturday, February 23, 2008
Saints introduced new loanee Ian Pearce straight into the side at Scunthorpe, and if I had enough fingers, I'd count how many centre backs that means we've fielded this season. He was given more than enough to do in a bid to come up to full match fitness, as Saints were second best to the division's bottom club and the only one that can compete with us on current (lack of) form.
Not surprisingly the home side's efforts didn't amount to a great deal either, but they were value for a half time lead, even if it came from a dodgy penalty: Paterson attempted a close control dribble on a heavy pitch at the edge of a crowded area, so it may have been imbalance as much as an illegal challenge by Viafara that caused his tumble. Centre back Crosby stepped up and hit a tame shot that Davis saved, but the ball rebounded for the home skipper to score at the second time of asking.
Referee Moss did his best to give Saints the chance of rescuing something from the game when Thomas's poor first touch gave Sparrow the mistaken impression that he could jump into a tackle and take the ball - all he got was a good piece of Thomas and a sending off.
The ten men should have been up against it from then on, but Saints didn't make their numerical advantage count and even Licka made a rare appearance as the desperation factor increased. In the end we were grateful to the referee's alert assistant who clearly signalled for a penalty resulting from an incident well away from the ball; the Echo's photographer managed to spot it as well, and the Saintsfc web site now shows proof of a tug on John's shirt. Recent failures meant there was still a lot to do, but Vignal strode forward to score with apparent confidence.
There was still a chance for an absolute steal, but Wright-Phillips failed to hit the target after being forced wide by the goalkeeper.
LSSC Man of the Match: Gregory Vignal. Southampton's glory years were punctuated by penalty conversions from their left back, but Vignal is still a long way from becoming the new David Peach.
Nigel Pearson on his first point as Southampton boss after a week at the helm:
"To sum up my first week it's certainly been tough. This is one point and I'm not getting carried away.
"We came here to be slightly more organised than we were against Plymouth in midweek and I think from that we've got a foundation to build on.
"I was pleased with how the players tried to put into practice what we've been working on."
Scunthorpe: Murphy, Hobbs (Iriekpen 46), Crosby, Butler, Williams, Cork, Goodwin, Sparrow, Morris, Paterson (May 89), Horsfield (Forte 67).Subs Not Used: Lillis, Hayes.
Sent Off: Sparrow (54).
Booked: Butler, Williams.
Goals: Crosby 41.
Southampton: Davis, Thomas (Wright-Phillips 70), Pearce, Davies, Vignal, Viafara (Licka 79), Idiakez, Wright, Surman (Hammill 57), Saganowski, John. Subs Not Used: Poke, Euell.
Booked: Vignal, Hammill.
Goals: Vignal 88 pen.
Att: 6,035 Ref: Jon Moss (W Yorkshire).
