PRIOR to important games, the legendary Hungarian side of Puskas apparently used to warm up against works teams in an effort to establish the patterns of play they would require for the major occasion.

With an FA Cup final looming large on the horizon, Saints unexpectedly found themselves engaged in an almost comparable exercise on Saturday.

Yet to compare Leeds United to a works team would surely be to offend the discipline standards of any part-time side across the nation.

Saints were on imperious form, while Leeds were quite simply the dirtiest team they have come up against all season.

Mark Viduka, Danny Mills and Eirik Bakke were all booked and Alan Smith saw red as their frustrations boiled over during the second half in the face of what looked like becoming a rout.

The outcome was never seriously in doubt from Brett Ormerod's 31st minute opener, yet come the final whistle there were two major surprises.

That Leeds finished with as many as ten players on the pitch and that in the final analysis only one goal separated the two teams.

After the game, the consensus among both managers, as well as another 32,000 plus sell-out St Mary's crowd, was that this was the most one-sided 3-2 scoreline they could ever remember.

Make no mistake, Saints played some of their best football for months on Saturday and could justifiably have run out winners by four or five goals.

Statistics are occasionally misleading, but on this occasion they were telling.

Saints had almost two-thirds of the possession, 23 attempts at goal to Leeds' eight, 11 corners to one and conceded half as many as Leeds' 22 fouls.

The benchmark for this team has understandably become the 4-0 FA Cup win over Tottenham and they matched the breathtaking quality of that display for long periods.

A weight seems to have been lifted following the FA Cup semi-final victory against Watford and the contrast with Leeds could hardly have been greater.

While the Yorkshire outfit looked frustrated and strained following what has been a terrible season, Gordon Strachan's men had a relaxed glow that told you they are now able to fully enjoy their considerable achievements.

From the off, Saints were the better side, with only Leeds' goalkeeper Paul Robinson limiting the damage.

He saved brilliantly from James Beattie and then acrobatically from Matt Oakley's 25-yard drive.

On 26 minutes he made another superb stop from Beattie's deflected free-kick, but moments later the inevitable happened.

Fabrice Fernandes, who tormented Ian Harte throughout, fed the ball to Anders Svensson. His shot was well saved by Robinson, only for Ormerod to pounce for the second consecutive week and chalk up his 50th league goal - his first in the Premiership since October 27.

Saints doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time when Fernandes floated the ball to Ormerod who knocked down for Beattie to net his 22nd in the Premiership this season and his sixth in consecutive league games.

The confidence flowing through the team was now obvious with Saints' main flair players, Fernandes and Svensson, benefiting from the platform Oakley and David Prutton, recalled in the absence of the suspended Chris Marsden, had laid in midfield.

In the 53rd minute Fernandes and Ormerod linked to play the ball to Beattie, who embarrassed Mills with a chip over his head, outpaced him and then crossed for Svensson to clinically finish a brilliant, sweeping move with his left foot.

Saints' play was now magnificent, with Fernandes, Beattie and Svensson all coming close to further extending the lead.

Even the misses were spectacular - none more so than when Beattie somehow fired a mistimed volley clear of the scoreboard and onto the stadium roof from just in front of the penalty spot.

But while the Saints number nine has a seemingly magnetic attraction for goals, Leeds' Alan Smith showed his for controversy as several of the Leeds team lost their discipline.

In the space of four minutes, the 22-year-old first laid out Ormerod with a terrible tackle and then stupidly kicked Michael Svensson.

After Smith's departure Leeds managed to partially camouflage their display by scoring twice in the last ten minutes.

The first through Harry Kewell had a hint of offside about it, but there were no arguments about a superb Nick Barmby volley with what was virtually the final kick of the game.

Yet the late goals could not detract from an utterly dominant Southampton display.

There had been a feeling that this game could be something of an anti-climax following the Cup semi-final last week, but instead it proved to be a victory parade.

An FA Cup final, a place in Europe, back in the top half of the table and unbeaten now in seven, these really are special times for Saints.

Manager Strachan has consistently told everyone to enjoy it.

The fans were always going to, but the most striking aspect of Saturday's game was just how good the players feel as well.