5th February 2011 – 26th February 2011
Saints were the late kick off for a televised away game to Peterborough. A game which we all knew would be a tough task. Boro have a good home record and score by the sack full, but also concede almost as many. Darren Ferguson was back in charge, so I expected the home team to be up for it.
Saints started brightly, as per usual. The wind was causing all sorts of issues for the keepers. We took the lead when Chaplow stabbed home. He continued his good form from the previous month. Alex Chamberlain was causing all sorts of problems for the home team allowing Lambert and Guly to hold a very high line. Chamberlain was bought down for a penalty, which Sir Rickie converted. 2-0 up and cruising. Yet again Saints seemed to switch off and allowed the home side back into the game. Seaborne mis-judged a bouncing ball which allowed Mackail-smith to run in on goal. An average shot beat Kelvis at his near post. Boro then levelled when Whelpdale was allowed too much space at the back post to head home from inside the 6 yard box. 2-2 half time.
Saints again flew out of the traps in the second half and scored 2 quick goals, first Rickie Lambert blasted home another penalty following a foul on Chaplow, then skipper Dean Hammond smashed home a great shot from a well worked training ground corner. Surely this would mean we would tighten up and come home with the 3 points? Being saints fans, we all know the answer was no! The ref gave Boro a penalty following a clumsy tackle by Seaborne, 3-4 with 54 minutes gone. We managed to hold the lead until the 2nd minute of injury time when Chamberlain was very harshly judged to have handled the ball. Boro equalised and for me it felt like a defeat rather than a point gained away from home.
It was a performance which had its high points, but I will be critical of several players. Firstly Dan Harding was so out of position for their second goal. Again a wide player had got goal side of him. Secondly Dan Seaborne allowed a ball to bounce when he should have cleared and then gave away a penalty with a silly challenge. But yet again our keeper was at fault. Beaten at the near post for the first goal, then stayed on his line for the second. If he had come and claimed the cross Dan Harding would have got away with his poor positional play.
Carlisle were the visitors to St Marys on the 12th. They had been on a poor run before the game and long may it continue. A crowd of 25,076 turned up to watch a poor game. Carlisle came with a game plan of sitting deep and trying to stop our ball playing midfield getting in behind. It worked for large periods. Rickie Lambert, who looks like returning to the form of last season, gave Saints the lead just before halftime. It was a lead which we managed to hold on to, but without really creating many chances to extend the lead. I myself will accept this type of match every time as long as we win. Some people enjoy moaning about this type of game, but did we hear Chelsea fans complain when under Mourinho they would grind our results? This is a sign of a team going places. Consistency is all we lack.
Our away day at Rochdale was postponed on the morning of the match. This proved very frustrating and adds to our heavy fixtures load between now and the end of the season. The team stayed up north and prepared for the next away match at Hartlepool on the 22nd. By all accounts we trained at Middlesbrough’s training ground and had a few team building moments on this very long road trip.
The match against Hartlepool is another where there is not really a lot to say. We huffed and puffed but didn’t create many chances. 0-0 was the final score and by all accounts the 600 or so loyal fans that made the trip didn’t have much to help warm them up!
During the week we got the bad news that Bart Bialkowski has suffered a bad knee injury and could be out for over a year. I wish Bart a speedy recovery and hope to see him back in action soon. To deal with this injury Saints moved fast and loaned James Shea from Arsenal. Hopefully this will be the first of many loans between the two clubs.
So we went into our final match of the month against Swindon. The Robins have fast become a bogey team for the Saints. We have failed to beat them in the last few seasons and were well and truly outplayed in the JPT when Swindon visited early in the season.
Kicking towards the Northam end, Saints started brightly and nearly took the lead when Chamberlain hit the post from inside the box. Alex was almost wheeling away celebrating but luck was not on his side. We did take the lead when Lallana finished off a good move and gave us the lead. Guly who was working hard then hit the same post as Chamberlain following a Lambert knock down. Would this be our day? 1-0 at half time, Swindon had barely got into our half.
Saints were sloppy at the beginning of the second half. Our passing was poor and we seemed second to most 50-50’s. Swindon got back into the game when ex skate Ritchie beat Davies at the near post. Yet again another poor piece of keeping from our only senior keeper. Hopefully the gaffer has a new number one on his summer shopping list! Conceding this goal worked in our favour as it seemed to spark life back into the team. Adkins made two subs, bringing on Morgan and Bernie for Guly and Chaplow. We hit Swindon with a quick fire double as Lambert and then Radhi “Fireball” Jaidi headed in from well worked set pieces. Once we had the two goal lead the confidence soared and we knocked the ball around quickly and could have scored a few more. Kelvis had the cheek to turn to the crowd and smile and make gestures when asked the score. How about you do your job Kelvin and stop conceding poor goals? Your team mates got you out of a very sticky situation. It was good to see the Muppets who chant his name like he is a god still sing it despite his poor performance. Grow up lads, he’s a mediocre keeper who needs replacing! Good old Bernie then scored his third injury time goal of the season to give saints a well deserved 4-1 win.
Now the fun really starts. Saints have a run of games which will test the strength of the squad. We will play Saturday, Tuesday for a few weeks. I hope this build momentum and gets us closer to our pre season goal of promotion.
On a sad note, Dean Richards who served us so well passed away today. Dean was suffering from a terminal illness and battled hard against it. He was forced to retire in 2007 due to his illness. Dean signed for Saints on a free transfer from Bradford and went on to make 87 appearances for the club. Dean followed Glenn Hoddle to Spurs for a then club record £8 million. A sad day for football and our thoughts are with his family.
RIP Deano, Thanks for the memories!
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. Email – modha79@gmail.com
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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