IF MOMENTUM really is all important in football – and it is – then Saints can feel happy they are starting to get on a roll.

Of course we all know that it all started to feel good during the summer once the club had been saved.

Alan Pardew’s arrival as manager a while later pushed things on a little further and even helped paper over the cracks of the squad which he had inherited.

Dan Harding and Graeme Murty may not have been huge headline grabbing additions but they were solid pros, important for the coming season.

After the first game of the season against Millwall, a worrying affair beforehand, worked out pretty well things seemed not too bad at all thank you very much.

But this week’s signing of Rickie Lambert gave everybody a right shot.

Here was the big signing the fans wanted.

Alright, he might not be a glamour name but he is exactly what people wanted to see.

He is a much sought after striker, particularly at League One level and probably the one above at least as well.

Lambert is a player others teams wanted, have coveted and yet here he is playing in the red and white at St Mary’s.

It speaks volumes and the signing pulls everybody up with it.

The next match for Saints, and Lambert’s first for the club, may only have been a Carling Cup game, which in the grand scheme of things may only appear as a minor blip on the landscape of the season.

But what was gained from last night’s game against Northampton cannot be underestimated.

Saints picked up where they left off against Millwall and moved things on a stage further.

Again their impressive performance was as much about a solid defence as it was a potent attack, though the strikers will undoubtedly grab the headlines.

Once more the midfield was competitive and had too much quality for the opposition, albeit this time one from a lower division.

It was good stuff. By the end it was a confident stuff.

And with that brings momentum.

The importance of that word cannot be under-estimated in football.

When you have momentum, be it up upward or downwards, it can change everything.

If it’s downward momentum then games you should win, games you even get into a position to win, can seem like massive struggles.

When you’ve got upward momentum the world is always a brighter place.

Games that would otherwise seem tricky, the legendary potential banana skins, are all avoided with a deal of ease and comfort.

And once a roll gets started it takes quite some stopping.

Saints are only just starting that roll and a real test in their next game at Huddersfield could yet stop it in its tracks.

But things are looking promising and there is a sense that Pardew’s men are starting to feel as if they believe it as well, which is half the battle.

Saints bossed the game against Northampton, creating a string of half chances early on as they dominated possession and tried to find a way to turn that into goals.

Lambert and strike partner Matt Paterson were lively, always robust, and caused a few early scares while Adam Lallana’s fantastic turn and shot from distance might have gone anywhere other than straight at the keeper.

But Saints’ patience was rewarded on 29 minutes when they took the lead.

After a long spell of possession, built from the back and involving Lambert, the ball was worked out to Lloyd James on the right wing.

He whipped in a terrific low cross which was met by the diving head of Lambert who turned it home from six yards out.

It was quite a start for the new man.

Lallana troubled Chris Dunn again moments later as Saints threatened to break loose only for a couple of timely reminders before the break.

First Steve Guinan stretched out a leg to divert Ramon Rose’s left wing cross over the bar from close range before Abdul Osman headed over from six yards when he should have done better.

Saints needed an authoritative start to the second half and they got it.

Wayne Thomas so nearly gave Saints the lead on three occasions in the space of a few seconds but each time saw his efforts after Lallana’s corner blocked.

Thomas was a key part of the defence who limited Northampton so much at the other end.

So much so in fact that what was only a glimmer of an opening turned out to be pretty much their best chance of the half.

On 66 minutes Ben Marshall tricked past one defender to grab himself a yard of space and a sight of goal but from 20 yards out he shot over the bar.

Any shred of nerves there may have been on Saints’ behalf were settled just a minute later, though.

Grzegorz Rasiak was thrown on by Pardew, looking supercharged, and made a run straight to the far post as a right wing free kick was lined up.

His first touch was to head back across goal where Lallana was on hand to turn home.

From then on Saints were always in control and the only question was whether they would add to their lead.

In the end they didn’t but that wasn’t important. The feeling of momentum is and they well and truly have that.