By Jack Watson
Two weeks off and this was not what I was expecting. I knew it was not going to be easy against a team who have just come down from the Premier League, but we played some exquisite football and we should have taken something from the game. On the other hand, we are still making sloppy mistakes, dropping off and giving away easy goals. We made it easy for the visitors to score today and I hope it was just due to having a couple weeks out of routine.
There was another 21,000+ (I know the away fans contribute to this) attendance today and we must start getting the results at home, otherwise this will inevitably start decreasing as the season progresses, which will affect the team’s morale. We have only won once at home and the rest have been draws, in which we could have easily taken the three points. On the contrary, we have only lost three times this season, which is a huge improvement from last season. We just need a victory, which will give us confidence that we can build on it.
Liam Rosenior made two changes to the starting eleven; Jason Lokilo replaced Adama Traore and Ruben Vinagre for Sean McLoughlin. That means our starting line-up was as follows: Ryan Allsop, in goal; Ruben Vinagre, Jacob Greaves, Alfie Jones and Cyrus Christie, at the back; Tyler Morton, Jean Seri and Scott Twine, in the middle and Jaden Philogene, Jason Lokilo and Liam Delap as the front three. Our bench was much stronger today and it could have made-up another starting eleven. Also, the moment we have been waiting for; Ozan Tufan returns, alongside Lewie Coyle, who are two key pieces to our puzzle.
The first half started positively for us; controlling the game, creating chances and not putting a foot wrong. But, when Southampton did get the ball, they used their time well, which is what we failed to do. It only took the first run into the box from them to take the lead. In the 20th minute, Kyle Water-Peters received the ball on the right, made a strong run into the box and teed up Smallbone, who smoothly tapped it in. We made this too easy for the visitors and it felt like they were just running through thin air. Our defence has been letting us down and maybe it is time to introduce our new signing James Furlong into the line-up and see what impact he has. That is the only solution I can think of. Nevertheless, we did not let this put us down.
Just five minutes later, we equalised. Scott Twine caught the visitors’ defence flat-footed and won the ball. Then, he made a short run and whipped in a cross from the right, which reached Philogene; however, his effort was deflected, but, fortunately, this landed in Delap’s way and he smashed it in from a central position. This goal could not have come at a better time as the away fans set off a flare just before we scored; I guarantee they regret not saving it until the end.
The half ended square.
The first half of the next 45 minutes was solid from us and we managed to keep The Saints quiet. We had some very good opportunities to take the lead; Philogene and Morton were both denied after a great counter-attack put them in a great position to score; however, the end product let them down. Then, Liam Delap had his chance to shine for the second time in the match; he made a darting run down the middle, beat his men and was one-on-one with the keeper, but instead of shooting first time, he did too much dribbling and a lot of step overs and failed to put it in the net.
The half eventually fizzled out towards the latter stages of the match and we made four substitutions: Ozan Tufan, Lewie Coyle, Allayhar Syyadmanesh and Aaron Connolly came on for Cyrus Christie, Scott Twine, Jason Lokilo and Liam Delap. However, this put a pin in the game and we failed to re-gel as a team. All we could do was play for a draw, however, we failed to do that and the most galling thing happened in the last minute of extra time. In the 95th minute, Flynn Downes did all the hard work on the right with an excellent low cross, and Ryan Fraser was there to put the cherry on the cake.
For the second time this season, this has happened; however, last time we managed to positively bounce back and go on a long unbeaten run. I really hope this happens again as I am getting a little bit fed up of watching us throw away matches and fail to do the main aspect of the game; stick the ball in the back of the net. Since we beat Sheffield Wednesday 4-2, we have only managed to score one goal at home, which is not good enough.
We have Birmingham next on Wednesday night, which I will not be going to, and then Preston North End next week at home. These are not ideal teams to play after a defeat like this; however, football can be strange at times, and with luck, we play them with positive mind-sets and take all available points.
