Stage 3 of the new year period completed successfully.

What I attempt to do in these Verdicts is not blindly think that every win is comprehensive nor conversly to portray every defeat as a disaster, but to try and highlight areas where the official web site wont touch, sometimes i know this upsets some people who cannot accept that discussing the areas in which we are found wanting is acceptable, indeed that it is more than that its disloyal, they could not be farther from the truth, football is about opinion and of course this is only mine, but without them this game would be a lot less exciting.

I dont fall into those Saints fans who sing "I have a shed thats better than this" and neither did most of those present at Dagenham, this was of course the smallest ground in the division and to be blunt without the new away stand would be only a step or two above Eastleigh in many respects, however it was a pleasure to visit and is what the lower leagues are all about.

Saints fans made up around a third of the crowd, I cannot remember us ever playing in front of a gate as low as 3,585 for a league game in my lifetime although the 4.025 at Slehurst Park in April 1992 to see us play Wimbledon was close and probably not far off the lowest ever top flight crowd ever.

Although it was a goaless first half, Saints remained tight and looked comfortable even though there werent that many chances at either end. Nigel Adkins had probably got it right in bringing back Hammond and Dickson for a game where Saints would need to make sure they didnt give the home side much going forward.

The second half exploded into life with a goal that had something of the Fred Karnos about it, to those watching it seemed like every player involved needed two bites of the cherry to get it right although not Adam Lallana who finished with an acrobatic scissors kick.

From then on Saints looked well in command, the arrival of Barnard on 70 minutes added running although it was a little strange that it was Chamberlain who went off and Guly pushed back to midfield, however it paid dividends almost immediately when the Brazillian picked up the ball in the penalty area after it had been won by Barnard, sold a nice little dummy and slotted it home to make the game look safe, however it was far from over.

Saints second substitution for some reason seemed to upset the balance of the side, most around me expressed surprise that Lambert wasnt removed and Guly pushed back up front, with 10 minutes left we needed to close down the Daggers but we took our foot off the gas and allowed them to get a cross into the six yard box and Saints were found wanting, bluntly if a ball is put into your six yard box from 35 yards or so out then it has to be dealt with, if the keeper is not going to come and get it then a centre half has to win it, we did neither and suddenly we were in trouble as they had a goal back and their tails up.

Our substitution looked to have been ill thought as they piled forward and they looked to have got one back. most of the ground werent sure what had happened as theball hit the underside of our cross bar and Davis smothered it with Dagenham claiming it was over the line, however the referee thought otherwise, luckily fo Saints and moments later Lambert latched on to a through ball and finished well with a goal that will hopefully boost his confidence.

So on the face of it a convincing win with the lions share of possession and chances, but for those that were there the last 10 minutes could have been far different and it was of our own engineering, Guly has come in for a lot of stick at times this season, but he is now the striker in form and getting his confidence back, why he is always the man to go off with Lambert left on only Nigel Adkins knows, to those there two goals up and ten minutes to go you want to close off the game and make sure that our opponents dont get a look in, Rickie Lambert has many talents and is undoubtably a gifted player and goalscorer, however one of those talents is not running, the last minutes needed someone up front to run channels and prevent them getting the ball down and passing it forward, Rickie was not the man for the job, perhaps NA thought that with us so far on top this was a chance for Rickie to get a goal for his confidence, if thats the case then it was the wrong move because it had the opposite affect.

On the plus side it was a much needed win away from home and the third straight win of the New year period and we are now firmly in second and chasing down Brighton, however 8 out of our next 12 games are on the road, some against our rivals for promotion, but first things first we need to get January out of the way, two away and two home culminating in the visit of Charlton, if we are in second still after that game then we are well on our way.  

Photo: Action Images via Reuters