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Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Something momentous had to happen at Derby: Jan Poortvliet's first point for Saints or Paul Jewell's first League win as Derby boss.
Southampton usually help opponents get out of a bad run but it was Jan who returned home with all three points gained in some style, after an outstanding second half performance. The first period was more balanced, but McGoldrick had the clearest chance, failing when faced with a one-on-one situation with Carroll.
At the other end, Davis made enough important saves to set himself up as a serious man of the match contender so the game was poised to go either way.
Over 11 months without a win against peer group opposition is a long time so maybe there was an element of panic in Derby's double substitution at the break.
It certainly didn't have the desired effect and Saints soon began to dominate, with Schneiderlin, Gillett and Holmes noticeably quicker to the ball and stronger in the tackle than their opponents, while debutant Jamie White didn't look out of place as Lallana pulled the strings.
There didn't need to be anything complex about this, just stick to what seemed to be a pre-ordained game plan of getting round the back of the home defence.
After 57 minutes, though, Davis was forced to emulate Carroll, this time to deny Commons in another one-on-one, but when Saints regained possession they moved forward with purpose and James crossed to give Lallana a great chance.
The finish was far from great, with both Carroll and the crossbar keeping out close-range shots before McGoldrick nodded in from the goal-line itself. John and Wotton came on to help out the youngsters for the last third of the match but the only complaint we have is that the team did not score enough goals - Carroll saved point-blank from McGoldrick who also clipped the bar with a header, and a number of pull-backs from the bye-line couldn't find one of those ridiculous grey away shirts.
Ultimately the first League win in Derby since either 1972 or the last time we played there (depending on whether you include the play-offs) was gained with surprising ease.
LSSC Man of the Match: Simon Gillett. My casting decision after LSSC travellers voted for a variety of impressive performances; however the most telling comment came from a Derby fan who asked about the blond number 22 who had so bossed the game.
