THESE may not be exactly the words Saints fans were hoping to hear after this weekend's fixture but things are moving in the right direction'.
After the abject opening day defeat against Crystal Palace Saints were a little better against Peterborough but still resulted in a defeat.
At Norwich it was another loss for Saints but the performance was enough to give even the most cynical fan hope.
It was more like what you expect from a George Burley team. There was pace and purpose about the players. They played at a high tempo, the short passing was there for all to see and they got the ball out wide.
The only trouble was it wasn't quite their day.
By rights this should have been their first three points of the season.
advertisement
But a combination of a lack of ruthlessness in the final third and some dubious refereeing cost them dearly.
On the positive side Wayne Thomas made the impact that was hoped of him. He was strong, powerful, commanding in the air.
There is a suspicion that Saints paid over his true market value to get him but such was their desperation to shore up with the backline with a player in the ilk of Thomas they had to a pay a premium.
If you get a quality player out of it though it is easy to swallow and in Thomas that is exactly what Saints seem to have got.
He is the type of player they have been missing and you feel that Chris Makin looks more comfortable next to him, as would Darren Powell or Claus Lundekvam or Alan Bennett who was crying out for that sort of tall and dominant centre half partner in the first two games.
The match against Norwich really was a game of two halves - or three thirds to be more precise.
Saints dominated the first two thirds of the game and should have had it killed off by then but the final half hour belonged to the home side and they made the most of what came their way to steal the points.
Things didn't look promising for Saints in the opening minutes when Gary Doherty got round the back of Thomas to direct Simon Lappin's free kick against the bar but that was about the last sniff Norwich had for some time.
After that point Saints hit cruise control and rarely looked flustered.
The only question was would they score - and how many - while they were on top?
For a while it seemed a goal just wouldn't come.
While Saints had deserved to lose their first two matches that was not the case at Norwich. With more clinical work in the final third and a bit of luck they would have won. Encouraging signs but they need points on the board this time next week.
Adam Leitch
Lappin cleared off the line after a header from his own teammate Jason Shackell while Jhon Viafara got a yard of space but dragged into the side netting as the frustration grew.
But on 36 minutes Kenwyne Jones showed why he is so coveted by Premiership clubs when he gave Saints the lead.
Though his finish came from a corner it was perhaps his build-up work to win that set-piece which was most commendable.
He battered his way past three Norwich defenders, shrugging them off as if they weren't there to get himself into a one-on-one situation that looked impossibile when he picked up the ball.
Though his low shot was half saved by keeper David Marshall it still had to be hacked off the line.
The resulting corner was only punched out to Jones who quickly turned, jinked inside Doherty and drilled a low near post finish into the bottom corner.
Rudi Skacel saw a shot saved by Marshall before the break while the theme continued after the re-start with Rasiak's effort brilliantly kept out by the Norwich stopper.
Next came the first moment of controversy as, on 55 minutes, Marshall didn't cover himself in glory in allowing a low Andrew Surman shot from the edge of the area to squirm through his grasp.
He dived back to grab the ball and the Saints players on the scene were adamant the ball had crossed the line. However, referee Clive Oliver and the linesman disagreed.
The next referee related talking point came just six minutes later. Makin passed the ball back to Kelvin Davis from close range and in a second of pure instinct the keeper smothered the ball.
Oliver awarded an indirect free kick on the right edge of the six yard box. Saints felt the wall was marched back too far which gave Jamie Cureton an extra split second to blast his shot into the far top corner from the lay-off before it could be charged down.
Norwich got the bit between their teeth and dominated from then on.
Davis made two top drawer saves to keep Saints level before Cureton dropped off the defence, controlled and half volleyed home for a 2-1 lead.
As hard as Saints tried they couldn't muster another opening to get a goal, their chances had been and gone.
It was harsh on Saints but, playing the football they played this weekend, things should get better quickly.
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
Print
Email this
Comment
