Bradford City 0 -- Saints 1
This scrambled victory may not have had the same nail-biting urgency and euphoria as Southampton's last win at Valley Parade but it may prove to be just as important.
Saints were the last team to beat Bradford on their own turf back in April when their 2-1 success effectively clinched Premiership survival.
Clearly they regard it as Happy Valley Parade because coincidentally that was also their last away victory.
This was much more scrappy but equally crucial. Firstly it opened up a four-point gap over the relegation favourites - and who knows what impact that may have come the end of the season
But more immediately it lifted Glenn Hoddle's men to eighth, their highest placing for slightly over a year.
This fixture was almost a crossroads in the season to determine whether Saints will push on or be sucked back into the battle against the drop.
And the character and resolution shown by the side was enough to suggest they should be able to pull well clear of Bradford who were absolutely shocking.
Thank Heavens Dan Petrescu went for the big pay-day and snubbed his former Chelsea boss to sign for the Bantams. They must be well chuffed to be committed to four years if he continues to perform like this!
And as for Benito Carbone, he was even worse. For someone who made such a fuss about Aston Villa's insulting offer of £25,000 a week, he has clearly put his mouth where the money is.
On this evidence he is not earning his big pay packet. In fact for all the impact he had on the game, he may as well have hailed another pre-match taxi. His finishing was woeful, his passion suspect.
Both are good players when they are in a quality side which Bradford most definitely are not. Whether they have the heart for a seemingly inevitable relegation battle is another matter.
Contrast that to Saints who have it in abundance. For all the emphasis on flair and tactics, they can also roll up their sleeves and dig in when it matters.
There are no fancy-dan airs and graces from The Dell's foreign legion, three of whom picked up injuries through going in where it hurts.
Through that they have found a new resilience on the road. In fact since their 7-2 mauling at Tottenham in March, they have lost only two of eight away games and one of those was a close-run thing at in-form Leicester.
It was that grit and sweat which saw them through at Valley Parade in a game which was far from pretty, perhaps reflecting its early-season importance.
Even the match-winner was scrappy, summing up the game. And it needed freeze-frame television replays to fathom the scorer.
Jason Dodd played a cute ball down the right for Jo Tessem to loft over a first-time cross on the run after 28 minutes.
Hassan Kachloul had drifted in from the left tracked by Gunnar Halle and as the pair tangled, the ball spun off the defender's arm towards his own goal.
Matt Clarke somehow clawed it back but the Norwegian's momentum saw him deflect the rebound into his own net a fraction before Kachloul who was following up.
It was scrappy, chaotic and frenzied - just like the rest of the game. And Saints had to battle like fury to hold the lead in the second half after failing to make their early dominance count.
Marian Pahars could have provided much-needed breathing space but failed to connect with a free header in front of goal and then missed the ball again when it spun back to him.
After the break Bradford piled forward albeit with more graft than craft. It was all very one-dimensional with nothing unexpected to trouble the two commanding centre-backs.
Dean Richards turned in another colossal display against his hometown club capably backed up Claus Lundekvam and together the pair repelled almost every assault.
The midfield worked tirelessly with Matthew Oakley pulling the strings once more while Jason Dodd and Wayne Bridge shored up the flanks to ensure City rarely got behind them.
There was only one really hairy moment and that was just before half-time when Paul Jones came haring out of goal for a ball that was never his.
When he failed to get there Petrescu lobbed it back towards what he thought was an unguarded goal but he reckoned without Richards.
Somehow the big defender managed to get back to head out from under his own bar and in the full knowledge that he was in for a clattering from Ashley Ward.
Jones though redeemed that rush of blood to the head with a third successive clean sheet founded on three fine saves, the best from Ward's powerful shot on the turn from 20 yards.
The goalmouth clearance from Richards though summed up the spirit in the Southampton camp, a quality which was disrespectfully sneered at by Mark Lawrenson on Match of the Day.
He described it as the worst Premiership match he had ever seen.
That is an outrageous thing to say - the 0-0 draw at home to West Ham in October 1995 was much worse! So too the 1-0 Dell defeat by Sheffield Wednesday in March the following year.
In any case, quality is in the eye of the beholder and to Saints fans this was a joy, both because of the importance of the win and through the fighting qualities shown.
They were highlighted deep in injury-time by the number of bodies thrown in the way during a frantic scramble which saw Jones dive bravely at the feet of Gareth Grant and Lundekvam block the follow-up from Dean Windass.
Although it was a tense finale, in truth Saints were not seriously troubled as they held on for a third successive victory which has put a much brighter outlook on the campaign.
Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article