Huddersfield Town Home Drew 1 – 1
No new injuries, but no recoveries either, nor further experimentations for the end of season game with Huddersfield, with Romeu operating in front of an orthodox back four. Ralph (and most of a sunny Sunday afternoon crowd) would have been hoping that the squad had got their on-the-beach-already attitude out of their system at West Ham, but it was a strangely lethargic Hassenhuttl team who struggled to create much before Redmond raised expectations with a fine strike past rookie keeper Coleman for what could have been the first of many. Relegated Town had only pride to play for but it would have been tough for them had Ings done better with an opportunity given him by Redmond. That again raised the familiar questions about Ings: should we sign him and, indeed, must we sign him? There was a change at the break with Bertrand moving to a third centre back and Targett coming in, and Targett played a part in the move that saw Ward-Prowse’s shot touched onto the bar by Coleman. Mooy had had an early shot deflected just wide of the angle, but after that there was little threat until Saints yet again pressed the self destruct button. This time it was Gunn to blame with a heavy touch with the ball at his feet that allowed Pritchard to score easily. Gunn isn’t the first of our goalkeepers to think himself a better footballer than he actually is, but Forster, sitting on the bench, may have reflected that there are some who still haven’t forgiven him for a similar mistake at Selhurst Park. All of a sudden it was the visitors who looked more likely to score, but Austin went tantalisingly close with almost the last shot of the game… it may, of course, prove to be Charlie’s last shot for Southampton. In truth the closing stages were most enlivened by a bizarre pitch invasion by a gent who appears to have let himself go a bit health-wise, prompting a fine response by the travelling fans: “that stupid fat bastard, he’s one of your own!”
LSSC Man of the Match: Nathan Redmond, deservedly voted Player of the Year.
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