This may have dragged Saints into the relegation zone, but it did offer hope for the New Year.

Sometimes you have to take a result in the grand scheme of things and this was one of those days, yes Saints are dragged into the relegation zone, however after a run of four defeats in which they have offered little in the way of resistance, Saints now have something to build on prior to a crucial January that ses them take on Barnsley, Doncaster and Norwich, a run of game that could see them draw clear or be dragged right down.

For once Poortvliet got it right, although to be fair quite a few eyes were rolled when the starting line up was announced and the selection on the bench was well balanced.

The truth of the matter is that their is little to choose between any of the teams in the Championship and Saints showed that they werent scared of Reading and they dug in, in a game that saw plenty of bluster but few chances for the first hour or so.

To be blunt this was a game that needed fight and Saints matched a well drilled Reading side in every department, the opening goal when it came was well worked, McGoldrick got the ovation as did McLaggon for a surging run and superb through ball, but the unsung hero was Simon Gillett, Gillett stretched and nicked the ball off a Reading players in our own penalty area to thwart an atack he controlled it and laid it short and the rest as they say is history.

That personified Gillett's game, he couldnt get the passing side of it going, meaning that often the crowd were a little restless with him, but he got the ball down and broke up attacks in a manner that hasnt been seen in a while, if he had got the passing side together we might well have won.

After the goal Saints had a new found confidence and in truth looked capable of everything that could be thrown at them, but two bad refereeing decisions made sure the points were shared, the first near the kingsland touchline looked innocuos initially, Lloyd James played the ball out for a throw but the referee wrongly gave Reading a free kick, that was angled in and to be frank Kelvin Davis should have come and collected, he hesitated and by the time he reacted Long was first to the ball to head it home. as they often say in football, when you chicken out of a challenge you often get hurt, this was the case and Davis neded lengthy treatment.

The second refereeing decision came rignt on 90 minutes as a McLaggon shot clearly was blocked by a Reading arm, if it had been earlier in the game it would have been given, but bluntly you rarely get penalties, at least ones that win games this late in the game.

So Saints had to do with just a point when their display warranted a lot more, another plus point was the make up of the side, for those that say Saints rely too heavily on loan signings, there were only two in the squad of 16, Cork who has been superb all season and Ryan Smith who hasnt and would not be too much of a loss, perhaps thats the reason behind our recent struggle, Poortvliet has an abundance of players, in some cases quantity rather than quality, meaning he chops and changes too often, yesterday in Gobern, Paterson and Mcloggon he found he has three players who are better than many who have been playing all season, keep faith with them and we should be OK come May          

Photo: Action Images via Reuters