It’s late

​I’m going to write a blog about all the Saints games that I attend this season. So that’s a treat for you all!! 

The first home game of the 26/27 Championship season was against Stoke City. We had started the season away to Watford and had lost 2-1, our defence having given away two entirely avoidable goals, so pre season hopes were already wobbling. 

The teams are announced 75 minutes before kick off (no I don’t why it’s 75 minutes either!). Although it does give ample time to share your thoughts on the selection with your fellow fans on WhatsApp . This weeks comments were mainly around Taylor Harwood-Bellis not being on the squad and with just over a week left in the transfer window, that meant that he was obviously “on his way”! Otherwise the team was close to what you’d expect. 

We started positively and scored in the first 10 minutes after Flynn Downes threaded the ball through to Cyle Larin who ran from the centre circle outpacing a Stoke centre half (who looked like he had diving boots on!) and then stuck the ball through the legs of the Stoke goal keeper Victor Johansson. 1-0 and all is good until the 26th minute! 

Then Stoke bring the ball forward and pass it out wide to ex Saints player Sam Gallagher who despite being a strapping centre forward when at Saints now plays on the wing! He does what he should do and crosses the ball into the Saints penalty area aided by no Saints player being anywhere near him to stop the cross. But it’s fine as there are 5 Saints players in the box (and a goalkeeper) so they’ll deal with it. Except they decide to play “after you Maud” or musical statues which allows Ethan Galbraith, Stokes big summer signing,  to glide in the area and put the ball into the Saints goal largely unchallenged. 1-1! 

The rest of the first half and the start of the second half are fairly mundane, with Saints playing better after half time as Stoke start show that they’re happy with a point. This gets worse as they start to show they know all the dark arts required to waste time. This is best illustrated by after a delay for some serious injury like a broken finger nail, their goalkeeper has to run back from the half way line as he’s been chatting to the coaching team!! And this is meant to be being stamped out this season!! 

Something has to change and it does after 78 minutes as we take off what should be our two best chances of scoring, Cyle Larin and Leo Scienza. To be fair Larin regularly got hooked after an hour last season and Scienza was never in the game having been doubled marked and therefore nullified. So on came two new signings, Divin Mubama and Lewis Dobbin, one on loan from Man City and one we bought from Aston Villa to give some Premier League quality and so it proved albeit there was another 10 minutes of life threatening cramp and the like before we scored. 

When it came the goal was simple and a thing of beauty. Dobbin goes through the middle of the pitch passes to Finn Azaz in the “D “ of the Stoke box, first touch he plays a perfectly weighted pass the Mubama, he takes a touch and then scores in the far corner of the Stoke goal with his favoured left foot. Cue wild celebrations including Saints captain Jack Stephens collapsing in the Stoke penalty area with an attack of cramp, just to make a point! 

2-1 and we steady ourselves for Stoke raising their game and 5 minutes of back to the wall defending but instead we score a third and it’s a comedy of errors. Flynn Downes plays another lazer guided pass into the feet of another late substitute, Sam Edozie, who looks and probably is a yard offside. No flag is raised and he takes the ball into the area where upon Stoke defender Svante Ingelsson, brought on to shore up the defence, bundles him to the ground giving away a penalty and getting a second yellow card and hence a red card for his troubles. We have two penalty takers, Larin and Scienza, neither of whom are on the pitch so Mubama and Edozie have a game of “rock paper scissors” to decide who’ll take it before Jack Stephens as captain intervenes and tells them the manager has told him Ryan Manning is to take it. This is does and sticks it in the bottom right hand corner just past the dive of Johanssen. 3-1 and shortly after the final whistle goes.

So on paper a comfortable win, but in reality had Stoke upped their game and stopped all the dark arts they could have caused us a problem or two. They chose, however, to try to protect the point they had and ultimately were well beaten by the end.