Leeds Away Won 1- 2
It may have been a near-meaningless match but many (not the old gits!) had paid £47 for the privilege of watching Saints at Leeds and plenty actually turned up as well. They saw a line-up that had three centre backs and Walker-Peters and Manning at wing back – a brave choice against a side with Gnonto and Somerville in wide roles, but professional formations are more flexible than they appear in 3-5-2 shorthand. First we had to take still hopeful home fans out of the game, but an early goal for second place rivals Ipswich did that anyway. Walker-Peters set up Smallbone with a chance smothered by Meslier but Downes did well to recycle the ball from the resulting comer, allowing Adams to cross into an area occupied only by Southampton forwards and no defenders so Adam Armstrong was able to notch the opening goal. The lead didn’t last long as Stephens lost possession, but the situation was made worse when Harwood-Bellis made a mess of dealing with Gnonto’s cross and another prolific Championship striker, Piroe, scored a similarly straightforward goal. It was defending that summed up the back line in the last quarter of the season but Saints had something about them when going forward and Adams’ poor control failed to create take advantage of what would have been a one-on-one with Meslier before a close thing from another corner had to be cleared desperately. Walker-Peters was to provide the breakthrough in the 35th minute when he chased down a long ball, beat Firpo conclusively and crossed for Smallbone to sweep home. Leeds introduced a sprightly looking 76 year old Eddie Gray to make an award at the break and they could have done with his skills in a second half that became scrappy with a mixture of misplaced passes and disruptive substitutions. That suited Saints, who also played their own part on both counts, the second beginning with Fraser on for Manning at the restart – Manning, it seems, is the latest not to be allowed to play much more than half a game. With Leeds now struggling to create, Manager Martin tried to even things up by replacing our best player, Downes, and he was forced into a third move when Adams went off injured, replaced by Sulemana down the middle – a ploy that ought to suit the player but Sulemana still looks like he’d rather be somewhere else. After Leeds had gone through their set of subs, we responded for the last few minutes by bringing on Bree for Walker-Peters and, to everyone’s surprise, Stewart for Adam Armstrong. Saints conceded a free kick on the very edge of the box in added time but when it was blocked we were home and dry, and set up for a play-off tournament against teams they haven’t lost to in the regular season.
Three LSSC Man of the Match candidates to choose from:
1. Alex McCarthy. Did what he had to do effectively. We haven’t always been able to say that of a Southampton goalkeeper.
2. Kyle Walker-Peters with an assist that might have been two had Smallbone managed to finish more than onvce.
4. Flynn Downes. Well I thought he was outstanding but he was only allowed 63 minutes pitch time.
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