Southampton continue their terrible home form with another defeat – this time at the hands of fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest. Colin Calderwood’s men deserved the three points on the South coast, and the vital win means that Forest are just one point behind the Saints, who sit in 21st place.
In a season which has seen all time low attendances at St. Mary’s, yesterday was different – a huge 26 thousand fans came out to see Saints in this vital six pointer. Yet, once again the Southampton home fans left feeling dejected and disappointed.
On a dull yet warm afternoon, the match started lively with both teams attacking. On 15 minutes the visitors had a glorious chance – Saints centre back Alex Pearce fell on the ball, and Forest striker Robbie Earnshaw squared it to Paul Anderson, who could not convert despite being in archers of space.
Three minutes later Saints midfielder Andrew Surman sweetly struck a left footed shot from outside the area, only to see it smash against the Forest post.
Four minutes before half time St. Mary’s was in shock when Cohen’s left footed free kick was powerfully met by defender Wes Morgan and the ball flew past Kelvin Davis to make it 1-0 to the visitors.
The second half saw the Saints have a lot of possession, yet once in the final third the youngsters seemed puzzled and almost unsure about how to convert their chances.
The introduction of Bradley Wright-Phillips on 65 minutes lifted the Saints and the super-sub nearly made an immediate impact when his cross-shot went inches past the post.
Fifth teen minutes before the end, any chance of a Southampton revival was ended when Joe Garner saw Kelvin Davis off his line and the midfielder spectacularly chipped the Saints goalkeeper from 30 yards out – a contender for goal of the season.
Southampton’s trouble at home continue, having only won once out of 12 attempts. Next at home for the Saints is Reading next Sunday and this will be a big test for the Saints as they go to do the double over Steve Coppell’s Royals.
Saints team:
Davis, James, Pearce, Perry, Skacel, Holmes (Gasmi 74), Euell, Lallana, Cork, Surman, McGoldrick (Wright-Phillips 64).
Subs Not Used: Bialkowski, Gillett, Lancashire.
Forest team:
Camp, Moloney (Chambers 83), Wilson, Morgan, Lynch, Anderson, Thornhill, Cohen, Davies (McCleary 74), Earnshaw (McGugan 81), Garner.
Subs Not Used: Bennett, Byrne.