It was a different day, a different competition and a totally different home team at St Mary’s, and yet there was something eerily similar about the whole match.

England Women coming to Southampton was a big occasion for the city.

Their presence broke down so many barriers to entry for supporters.

An earlier kick-off during the Easter holidays, kids being allowed in for just £1, and no intimidation factor over such a friendly occasion attracted a whole new crowd to St Mary’s.

There were inevitably lots of children, lots of flag waving and screaming, and hopefully the kind of atmosphere that will keep people invested in the sport, and maybe even encourage them to come along and support Saints in the future.

From that perspective it was mission accomplished for the area and the football club.

There was also the matter of prestige too.

It is, incredibly, approaching 16 years since the men’s team played out their disappointing 2-2 draw with Macedonia in Southampton.

It was 2006 when the England Women’s team last pitched up at St Mary’s. It’s fair to say the women’s game has come on an awfully long way since then.

However, if there were some seasoned Saints watchers in the 25,603 strong crowd then they witnessed something that must have felt uncomfortably familiar.

England were the favourites for the game, playing at home and against a team they were widely expected to beat, and to beat with a fair degree of comfort too.

And, yet, it proved to be a hugely frustrating evening.

In the first half Wales parked the bus, in the second it was more like a tank, and England could just not find a way through.

There were even a few boos towards the end of the game, rather harshly for Wales keeper Laura O’Sullivan. The fact she went down with cramp rather underlined what a one-sided game this was in all but scoreline.

The game was remarkable in the sense that there can have been few matches in football that have been so dominated by a single team.

What is so strange, then, is that Wales could well have won it.

It was they who had what might have been goal not given when Natasha Harding’s shot deflected twice in the England box and was cleared off the line by the sliding Lucy Bronze.

To the naked eye it looked to have clearly crossed the line, replays suggested it had too, but the Swedish officials weren’t having it, and with no goalline technology present play continued.

That moment came after ten minutes, and from then on it was pure defence for Wales.

You could only really admire their organisation, their tenacity and their determination to throw themselves in the way of everything England had to offer.

The first 45 minutes saw O’Sullivan twice make saves from both Toni Duggan and Jordan Nobbs.

But, as much as England dominated the ball and Wales occasionally looked a little bit panicked at the back, chances were few and far between for Phil Neville’s team.

If there was any rare hint of Wales adventure in the first half, it well and truly disappeared at the break.

The vast majority of the second period saw everybody other than England keeper Carly Telford deep in Welsh territory.

It was total one-way traffic, but England failed to find a way through and, in truth, they looked short of ideas.

O’Sullivan was in business a fair few times as time wore on, saving from Ellen White, a cracking turn over the bar from Fran Kirby and a deflected Nobbs cross.

Her only wobbly moment came as a weak punch from a free kick presented Abbie McManus with a shooting chance at the far post but she hit the side netting.

When the final whistle went the Wales side celebrated like they had won the World Cup, but it just showed what it meant to them to stay top of their qualification group ahead of England, and why it was deflating for the Lionesses.

Saints fans knew the feeling all too well.