FOOTBALL'S a funny old game, that's why we all love it so much.

At the start of the season, Saints travelled to Ipswich and put in arguably their finest performance of the season.

They tore their hosts apart from start to finish -if they would have won by ten clear goals it would have been a fair reflection of their dominance, possession and the chances they created.

Instead, they came away 2-1 losers.

At Wolves this weekend, Saints were 6-0 winners in a game that much of the time looked as though it could go either way.

It really is a strange old game this football lark.

Saints deserved to beat Wolves, that's not in question.

But, having bemoaned the occasions this season when the luck has been against Saints, when they've been on the wrong end of undeserved results and matches where the ball hasn't broken for them, it's only right to acknowledge this time it was their day in a big way.

Pretty much everything they did went right - and, even when it didn't, they got away with it.

Wolves had the better of the first 20 minutes and it felt just a matter of time before they snatched a goal.

But Saints got the opener on 24 minutes when Danny Guthrie, sublime on the ball in midfield, fed Andrew Surman, who crossed to the far post, where Marek Saganowski headed goalwards.

Matt Murray got a hand to it but couldn't keep it out.

It got even better three minutes later when Rudi Skacel got down the left and crossed into the six-yard box, where the ball hit the helpless Gary Breen, who couldn't avoid deflecting it into his own net for 2-0.

There was then one of those turning points in a game when Bartosz Bialkowski saved brilliantly down to his right to block Andy Keogh's header before it was 3-0.

On 36 minutes, Saganowski scored a brilliant goal. Checking back to create himself a little space, he chipped Murray, who was not that far off his line, with pinpoint precision.

The Wolves keeper could only look up and stare as the ball sailed over his head and dropped under the bar into his far corner.

But, such was Wolves' foothold in the game, they were still in it and a goal before half-time might have made all the difference - certainly with Saints' record of wobbling after leading this season.

They twice came close to getting it.

Five minutes before the break, Keogh's header cannoned off the post while Michael Kightly missed a penalty with the last kick of the half.

Chris Makin was adjudged to have handled Kightly's attempted flick over his head but Bialkowski got down to his left to save an unconvincing penalty.

Saints were far more in control in the second half and exploited the space left by Wolves as they played three at the back to try and get on the scoresheet.

Leon Best made it 4-0 with a low finish into the bottom corner after his first effort had been blocked.

It was 5-0 when the brilliant Surman, so underrated but regularly showing such quality, got a well-deserved goal.

Jermaine Wright, another unsung hero, picked him out and the youngster had all the time in the world to control and fire his finish across Murray.

And it was six and a Saganowski hat-trick when he curled an effort from the edge of the area round Murray seven minutes from time.

Sometimes in football, it's just your day.

For full match report see Monday Sport.