SOMETIMES there are moments in games which are turning points and, just occasionally, they can be turning points in a season as well.
It is possible that Saints may have had one of those at Barnsley.
With just six minutes to go until half time and with Saints already 2-0 down, Kayode Odejayi got in behind the Saints defence.
advertisement
It appeared he was offside but the linesman's flag hadn't gone up.
He was one-on-one with Kelvin Davis and had all the time in the world to decide how he would score.
At 3-0, there would have been no way back for Saints.
A defeat at Barnsley on the back of losing to Preston and only drawing at Colchester would have been demoralising, not just for the players
but for the fans.
With Watford up next at St Mary's as well, there would not even been the sight of much respite or much reason for optimism.
But, just as everybody was thinking the worst, Odejayi got nervous.
He decided to take his shot early and slashed wildly at it, sending it well wide of Davis' goal and giving Saints a major let off.
With half time to regroup and just two goals behind, Saints were still in it.
They came back to earn a draw, almost won it, and gave themselves a real forward feeling of momentum.
Of course, only time will tell if it does prove to be a turning point in the season.
Only hindsight will allow us the benefit of finding out.
But there is little doubt if Saints do go on to get a result against Watford tomorrow then that miss, and the second half performance that ensued because of it, will have had a major part to play.
Saints should have been dead and buried by half time but made the most of the lifeline they were given. In the end they looked the most likely side to win it. They now take a bit of momentum into a tough game against former runaway leaders Watford.
Adam Leitch
Whilst the draw at Barnsley may be just a decent result and not a great one, it was far better than losing.
Saints are playing some decent stuff but are not quite at their best for 90 minutes.
At least they are picking up odd points in these games, something many teams in similar positions in the league are struggling to do.
It goes without saying that winning matches and getting those three points on the board makes a
massive difference in such a tight division.
But Saints remain there or thereabouts and in there fighting away with plenty of other teams for a top six finish.
They could hardly have got off to a worst start at Barnsley.
They fell behind after just 16 seconds, in itself quite a rare feat.
It was even more incredible when you bear in mind that they were 1-0 down without even had a touch.
The conditions were dreadful at Oakwell with a very strong, swirling wind and lashing rain into the mix.
It was no coincidence that Barnsley had the better of the first half when they were attacking with the wind and Saints the second half when the ends were reversed.
Straight from the kick-off Barnsley got a cross in from the right that Brian Howard could only
help back out of the Saints box.
Sam Togwell threw his leg at the ball and hit a volley goalwards.
It wasn't a clean connection but with the wind helping it, it somehow drifted into Davis' top left hand corner.
In the first half Saints were all at sea defensively.
The decision to play Darren Powell after so long without a game, albeit due to another injury, didn't pay off.
He gave it his all but understandably wasn't quite match fit.
With Wayne Thomas at right back and Phil Ifil, a natural right back on the bench, it changed at half-time.
But by that stage Saints were 2-0 down, Jamal Campbell-Ryce storming down the right and firing
a fierce shot across Davis into the other top corner.
After Odejayi's miss, Adam Hammill gave Heinz Muller his first work with a shot that needed
turning behind.
It was the introduction of Bradley Wright-Phillips after an hour that made the big difference.
Within a minute of coming on, Grzegorz Rasiak played him through one-on-one and with his
first touch he finished across Muller into the far bottom corner.
Just ten minutes later it was 2-2 as Wright-Phillips swivelled at the near post to hit an effort from ten yards out into that same spot.
After that it seemed Saints were the only side that would win it.
Rasiak should have scored with a header from eight yards but missed the target while Muller saved one-on-ones from Wright-Phillips and Rasiak, the latter also seeing a follow-up header cleared off the line by Marciano Van Homoet.
At least Saints finished with a sense of momentum - and as we all know, sometimes in football that can be all you need.
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
