James beattie's 13th goal of the season was not only his best but also one of his most important.

The classy 82nd-minute winner showed another side to his game that has increasingly emerged under Gordon Strachan and got his scoring run right back on track.

It would be stupid to suggest that the three games he went without finding the net were any kind of a disaster but his return to the scoresheet in the last two matches is vital.

That is because Beattie - who now has 13 goals in 13 league games - has hit these purple patches twice before. Last season it was halted by injury and the time before that it just ended.

He must have known that to progress to the next level he needed to sustain this one for as long as possible.

Although the big striker was certainly not panicking after what he jokingly described as 'a bad drought,' he needed to get among the goals again.

And the fact that he has - and proved he can keep a run going - is all credit to him and the ever-increasing maturity he is showing as a player.

In Beattie's previous scoring runs his game was all about the goals and not too much else.

Now he is getting better with every match and starting to look like he has the attributes to be a complete striker in the way that Alan Shearer is.

Beattie is strong in the air, makes intelligent runs but knows when to wait and can hold the ball up to bring his teammates into play. . . and then of course there are the goals.

The only one to rival yesterday's was the strike at Newcastle but this was better - this was pure class.

With only eight minutes of a very tight game remaining, Saints flew at Spurs on the counter attack.

Fabrice Fernandes ran with the ball down the right wing and looked up at what was in front of him.

That was Beattie and Rory Delap.

Delap's superb run opened up the space for Beattie to receive the ball and the Saints man coolly considered his options before producing a couple of magic touches to turn Dean Richards inside out and finish with his left foot past Kasey Keller.

It was a great goal but the fact that it left Glenn Hoddle leaving without a point and that it was Richards - booed every time he touched the ball - who was beaten made it even greater for the St Mary's crowd who were quick to voice their delight.

Before that moment the game had been nip and tuck. A rhythm of lull, attack, counter attack, lull.

It couldn't be blamed on the wet pitch, which underwent several inspections before it was deemed playable, and the groundsmen deserve plenty of credit for its excellent condition considering the terrible weather.

In the first half Spurs came close early on with a Teddy Sheringham flick that went just wide from Stephen Carr's free kick.

Sheringham was influential in the opening exchanges as he floated between the front two and the midfield to try to pick up the ball deep and work in the space between Southampton's two banks of four.

But then Matt Oakley started picking him up and did a top job to stop him playing.

Spurs kept it tight at the back throughout with their three physical centre halves able to snaffle most of the openings Saints carved out.

But, despite the lulls, there was plenty of action for both 'keepers.

In the opening 45, Keller saved from Paul Telfer and Fernandes and in the second period from the excellent Wayne Bridge and Jo Tessem.

It was Antti Niemi though who had the more meaningful action and further enhanced his reputation as one of the best 'keepers in the Premiership.

The first half saw the Finn stop efforts from Steffen Iversen and Carr while, in the second period, he produced some more top-drawer saves.

On 64 minutes, Iversen headed back across goal where Niemi not only saved but pushed the shot away from goal - vital with Sheringham waiting for anything that dropped down.

Niemi also got down well to prevent Robbie Keane, who missed the target on a couple of other occasions, as Spurs threatened, but never managed, to take the lead.

On the balance of play a draw probably would have been a fair result but there was not a single Saints fan in St Mary's who cared how they beat Spurs - all that mattered was that they did.