November 20th 2010 – November 27th 2010
Saints started the week with the first of three home games against pre-season promotion rivals Peterborough United. Saints started like a runaway horse against the “posh”, we should have scored a lot earlier than the 28th minute when “Bernie” continued his good recent form by smashing the ball past Joe Lewis in the Boro goal. Lewis had already pulled off a couple of good saves from Lallana before Saints took the lead. Saints went in 1-0 up at the break, but it was easy to see why Peterborough had been conceding goals of late. Yes, they may have a good attack at this level, but some of the defending was comical. Early on Chamberlain skinned the full back and this caused one of their most creative players, George Boyd to spend his afternoon helping his full back from what can only be described as a footballing rape!
Second half started with a bang as the ever improving Ryan Dickson crossed for Fonte to head home his 4th goal of the season. Finally we have a centre back that chips in with a few goals! In all honesty Fonte is playing below his level. Jose could easily do a very good job at championship level. Saints increased the lead when Richard Chaplow made it 3-0 after 50 minutes and it was game over. Saints had outclassed, out passed and out muscled the opponents on offer. The defence was called into action rarely and stood up well against Mackail-Smith and Maclean. Posh pulled a goal back on 76 minutes as MacLean finished well from inside the box, but Saints were not finished, as we were treated to a Samba special appearance from Guly who came on and scored. In all honesty he should have had a hat trick but maybe we’ll see that one day. A solid 4-1 home victory for Saints who played with an attacking freedom and simply swept the “Posh” away.
The second game of the week came against top of the table Brighton. Gus Poyet has taken them to the summit with a possession game. Brighton bought a full allocation of away fans and the atmosphere was buzzing. Saints fans mocked the fans that had made the journey from Sussex with the predictable, yet funny banter. All the classic chants were out including, “Does your boyfriend know you’re here?” and “We can see you holding hands”. My good friend, Russell who supports the seagulls was expecting these chants and wasn’t surprised at how quickly the chants were sung.
Saints again, like the whole season, started well. Brighton couldn’t cope with all our midfield runners and struggled to pick up the intelligent running of Lallana. Somehow, Brighton managed to hold out till half time. Saints had played the league leaders off the park but had nothing to show for it! 0-0 at half time didn’t do justice to the attacking flair shown by Saints. The Brighton keeper made a couple of crucial stops and was helped by defenders throwing themselves at the ball.
The second half again started with Saints on the front foot, but on a cold winters evening, things started to even out. Brighton slowly gained more possession but didn’t look too likely to score. Saints held out for the draw after tiring in the final 20 minutes and a point against the team leading the way in the division isn’t the worst result we could have got. Radhi Jaidi gets a special mention for playing an absolute blinder at the back. Good to have you back Fireball!
Our third home game of the week was against Cheltenham town in the FA cup 2nd round. Saints had reduced admission prices and despite a chilly day, we still managed to get the highest attendance of the round.
In all honesty this was a mis-match from when the draw was made. Saints brushed aside their league 2 opponents with ease and surprising comfort. Saints made a few changed to the starting team with Guly and Young Oscar Gobern getting starts. Yet again it was Lallana who shone as he gave Saints an early lead finishing following a flowing move. Saints dominated with long spells of possession and were frustrated as Cheltenham sat back and tried to make life difficult. We finished the game off on 50 minutes when Guly added to the score to make it 2-0, the goal coming minutes after Gobern had a goal ruled out for offside. Gobern was finally to get his first goal for the club on 87 minutes as he headed home from a good cross.
A perfect end to an enjoyable week, Saints picked up 4 league points and made it into the 3rd round of the most famous club competition in the world! Blackpool will be the team coming to St. Mary’s for the next round, the return of one of the unsung heroes from the 2003 FA cup final team Brett Ormerod will be a feisty affair.
A big thank you to all those that have been able to read this and if you have any comments, good or bad please get in touch.
Special thanks to my very good friend Alan who is helping spread the word by advertising this blog on his own website. Please visit www.bellsofhythe.co.uk for all your outdoor sports needs!
All the best
Neel
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