Printer-friendly pageSaturday, April 14, 2007
Saints were without Bale for the trip to St. Andrews, and if we're honest he was probably in need of the rest. However, after another defeat, we can pretty much forget about his staying at the club so the injury limits our chances of seeing him in a Southampton shirt.
It might have been very different had Viafara accepted the early chance set up by Guthrie: who knows why he thought the opportunity would get any better after attempting to cut inside when faced with a clear shooting chance?
Guthrie at least was willing to have a go, and was unlucky to see his shot bounce back off the post. If the players were feeling sorry for themselves after that, it soon got a lot worse as Birmingham scored from their very next possession - Jaidi headed home from a corner. Jones had caused Birmingham so many problems at St. Mary's that it was no surprise when he was brought on at half time; Surman also took his place, and here the only surprise was that he'd been dropped in the first place.
Unfortunately both were guilty of missed chances, with Surman blazing over when well placed and Jones tapping an easy chance over when the luckless Guthrie's shot came back off the bar. By this stage Saints were two down thanks to a clear-headed finish by Bendtner when put through by on-loan Skate Andy Cole - pre-match goalscoring favourite amongst the pessimists.
We did end up losing by only the odd goal as Saganowski's scoring run continued, but the trouble with both our Polish strikers is they contribute very little when not knocking the ball into the net. Maybe something of the finishing knack will eventually rub off onto Jones, though.
Man of the Match: Danny Guthrie, inches away from being a two-goal hero.
