Is it Game Over For Saints?
Jamie Cureton was the man who may have put the final nail in Southampton`s increasingly battered Championship promotion challenge with a double as Colchester grabbed a win at St Mary’s last night against a Saints side devoid of well? everything!
The striker fired the Us ahead on only 3 minutes , Marek Saganowski went on to drag Saints level but Cureton got his 17th goal of the season only seconds later. The result lifts Colchester to 10th place in the table, four points behind Southampton and improves their own outside chance of sneaking a play-off place.
Saints had not even made it out of their own half when Cureton opened the scoring, Kem Izzet cleverly playing in Chris Iwelumo, who provided the low cross for his strike partner to slot in.
Saints looked to get back on level terms immediately with Andrew Surman forcing a fine save from the Colchester goalkeeper Dean Gerken with a fierce angled drive. Saints on-loan Liverpool player Danny Guthrie almost capped his home debut with a fantastic lob from just inside the Colchester half which had Gerken scrambling back to tip over.
Gareth Bale then hit the post with a glancing header from Guthrie’s corner before Saints drew level on 26 minutes. Bradley Wright-Phillips slid the ball in to Surman, whose fantastic little touch found its way to Saganowski who fired home his fourth goal for the club in only his 7th game.
Only seconds later the Us were back in front when Richard Garcia crossed and Cureton volleyed home superbly. But real question marks have to be raised about the quality of Southampton`s defending, or more to the point the lack of. Centre back pairing Claus Lundekvam and Pele just didn`t have a clue and on far to many occasions the Colchester forwards had free, unchallenged headers on goal.
Substitute Leon Best brought two fine saves out of Gerken, but Saints never really looked like turning the game around. And this defeat means that if results go against Southampton this weekend there will be a 6 point gap between Saints and the play off places.
In fairness this just isn`t good enough, what has gone wrong at St Marys is beyond me, but probably more concerning is that I am beginning to think that neither George Burley or the players have any idea either. The over riding question is… Is it Game Over for Saints?
Southampton: Bialkowski; Baird, Pele, Lundekvam, Bale, Dyer, Guthrie, Wright, Surman, Saganowski, Wright-Phillips. Substitutes: Kevin Miller, Rasiak, Makin, Best, Viafara.
Colchester United: Gerken; White, Brown, Baldwin, Barker, Garcia, Izzet, Watson, Jackson, Cureton, Iwelumo. Substitutes: Davison, Elokobi, Ephraim, Mills, Guy.
Referee: T M Kettle (Rutland).
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