Preston North End Away Won 1 – 3 – We Finished 4th
Manager Eckert promised to go for the win and the possibility of fourth place when selecting his team to face Preston, so he must have thought they’d be able to do that without either Bree or Manning and with Charles filling in at right back. Saints certainly began on the front foot, and when over-eager passes gave the ball away, the home side were generous enough to give it back. An early goal arrived, headed in by Harwood-Bellis from Welington’s cross and with Preston defenders as surprised as anyone to find TH-B still lurking upfield after a corner. It was so close to being two straight from the kick off after Stewart charged down goalkeeper Iversen’s clearance only to see the ball finally drift just past the post. Preston were being outclassed but they wouldn’t have wanted to be outplayed in front of their own fans in their last match and Lindsay should have done better with a set piece header while Peretz had to keep them out with some decent, but not unexpected, saves. Southampton struggled to string passes together after the resumption, but when they got their game in order, they went two up: (ed it was Archer) Charles fed Stewart who thought about shooting once, then twice before finally scoring, having completed a double-circle turn with the ball at his feet. A good goal for Ross, but very preventable, as was the one that brought Preston back into the game. This came after a short corner played the ball to Charles whose shot was well saved by Cornell, now on for Iversen; Cornell wasn’t finished there as he quickly released Dobbin, only faced by Peretz. It was a difficult bouncing ball for the keeper to deal with, and instead of heading into touch, an attempted clearance only ended with him slipping over and presenting Dobbin with a goal. Bree (with Charles moving to midfield) and Manning both came on, as did Azaz, noticeably with strapping on his right leg. Preston’s best chance of an unlikely draw seemed to lie with corners, free kicks and long throws, but Saints just about coped and we were in fourth spot ahead of Middlesbrough courtesy of number of goals scored as we moved into added time. That meant that sub Larin‘s late close-range goal actually counted for little. There was still time for Manning to strike the post from a free kick, while Boro couldn’t break the deadlock in their match. The Championship unbeaten run, like the season, keeps on going.
Three LSSC Man of the Match candidates to choose from:
6. Taylor Harwood-Bellis. A goal and having to do more defending towards the end than looked likely.
18. Tom Fellows, mainly for an outstanding first half.
24. Shay Charles, edging out Jander as our best midfielder.
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