....Strange feeling for me tonight, i went to the game.......enjoyed it and was never really worried whether we ended up winning or not......such is the lure of the Johnstone paint trophy.
I was supposed to have a meeting in Southampton last week, a couple of the directors of the business i was seeing are Soton ST holders, they knew i was TUFC mad......so the meeting was put off till today, we had a very pleasant meal by the Docklands and strolled to the stadium.......i got in my excuses for the upcoming hammering, we were about to receive on the way;).
It has to be said that St.marys is a superb stadium......and Southampton looked a strong and quick side, the atmosphere in the ground was good considering the (non) importance of the game, they only opened up one side and one end for the game so gauging the crowd was tricky.....i'd guess it must have been 8-10k with about 300 noisy travelling fans in the corner who were a credit to us and sang their hearts out all night.
Onto the game.......and the new formation! 3 centre halves, 2 wing backs and Sills up top flanked by Rendell on the right and Benyon on the left.........it was supposed to be 3-4-2-1, after 20 mins of being torn to shreds it was definitely 5-4-1.
Nicho and Mansell certainly had problems adjusting positionally to the new system and Southampton attacked with pace at will down either flank, the quality of their crosses and final balls was generally poor and our centre halves (Ellis and Robbo were v.good again) dealt with everything well enough and we survived....just......then completely and utterly against the run of play we scored!
We forced a throw near the corner flag down the left and Nicholson hurled the throw to the 6 yard box, The saints keeper Davis completely lost his bearings and didnt get anywhere near the ball and Sills headed (i think) into an empty net.....it was a dreadful bit of goalkeeping.
With the goal we started to get a bit of a foothold into the match and definitely looked far more solid........then we got the ball in their half again and scored again!
Mansell threaded a lovely ball through to Thompson who was in 1 on 1, Thompson looked like he was unsure of what to do but the hapless saints keeper rushed out and clattered him before he could make up his mind........penalty, in a league match it was a red card for sure, perhaps refs are more lenient in this comp or perhaps he didn't want to upset the locals.......he was very lucky to just get a yellow. Wroe steps up and bangs it down the middle.......0-2 and i was apologising to my Saints mates
.......sort of!
Second half we were actually much much better despite ultimately losing it 2-0, we looked confident, committed, passed the ball well and you could see that only poor defending would cost us the victory......sadly this is what happened, Southampton scored two very scrappy, very defendable goals. This was a shame because we had defended well generally.
At 2-2 bucks changed the system back to 4-4-2 bringing on Carlisle and Stevens for Rendell and Charnock....with Soton pushing men forward, the game got stretched and we started to look lively on the break.
Wroe nearly scored goal of the season........it was so so close. wide and the right and from inside his own half he spotted davis well of his line.......the shot/lob was brilliant, you could see davis look more and more panic stricken as the ball started to dip over his desperate attempt to claw the ball away.........he was completely beaten as he collided in to the post (rec'd lengthy treatment after)....agonisingly depite looking like a goal all the way it drifted just a few inches wide.
We had 2 other good chances to win the game late on.......benyon was put through after a great run and pass by Thompson......it was a golden chance but Benyons weak shot went wide of the target, it was a bad miss.
With just a couple of minutes left a perfect corner by Nicholson was met by Ellis who had escaped his marker and from six yards he headed over......another bad miss i'm afraid.
So onto pens......Soton had the advantage of going 1st and made the most of it.....Bevan didnt smell any of them, we hung in until Nicho (who tbh didn't look confident) drove his too close to the keeper.
So we're out........should have won but confidence has been enhanced with this performance i reckon.
Bevan - dealt with crosses well, a good game.
Mansell - had a v.good 2nd half and looks fit and sharp now.
Nicho - against quick wingers on a big pitch he was always going to struggle defensively....and he did. Doesn't hide though and was better 2nd half, delivery was good as ever.
Ellis - kept up his good form with another commanding display.
Robbo - did well against Lambert who is big and tough.
Charnock - not fit yet, struggled a bit.
Thompson - got better as the game went on and was a spark in an attacking sence for a change.......i think him and wroe ended up winning the battle against Wotton and co in the engine room.
Wroe - his confidence and swagger is coming back for sure, he was better against Bury last sat and was better again tonight looked skilful and tackled well.......we are a different side when he turns up!
Rendell - had a good 70 mins and worked his socks off in a different role for him, some nice touches.
Benyon - typical of elliott of late minus the goal, worked hard but
was no threat and not strong or quick enough to worry a solid Saints defence.
Sills - MOM for me, led the line tirelessly, won his share in the air and is crying out for a nippy striker with some modicum of anticipation to play alongside him.....we will only see his real worth then.
Subs
Carlise - had a good 20 mins when he came on.
Stevens - anonymous.
.......sort of!
It never fails to disappoint me how English professionals struggle to come to terms with a change of formation and how as a result, by far the majority of coaches opt for a traditional 4-4-2 and quite rightly justify that by saying it cuts down to a minimum the amount of thinking (and by reason thereof) cases of misunderstanding within the team. 
