A Game of two halves at Stoke eventually saw Saints fall short.,

Saints knew what they were going to get from Stoke City, after all the side that is now vying for automatic promotion had two ex Saints in their ranks as well as a manager who Saints fans dont feel is good enough for St Mary's.

From the very off Stoke were down Saints throats, long balls, Delap throws it was all slung in and for 27 minutes Saints looked like they could cope with whatever was thrown at them, but then, as it has so often this season, Saints collapsed and in a 18 minute spell conceded three sloppy goals from the three corners that the home side were awarded.

The first saw Powell slice an attempted clearance in off the post after a Davis block save and then Saints allowed two free headers the first of these on 35 minutes and the second on the stroke of half time as Saints lost concentration in the minute before the break for the third time in the four league games Dodd & Gorman have been in charge.  

D & G were said to have given a ferocius roasting to the players in the dressing room during the break, it was said this was the first they had adminstered, that in itself is a moot point after Saturday, but it obviously had an effect.

Within seconds of the restart Stern John had pulled one back, and when eight minutes later he hit a second Stoke were on the rocks, Saints then had a plethora of chances to pull back an equaliser, but the finishing had gone back to normal and once again it was a case of too little too late.

The problem is that D & G seem to have inherited the Burley trait of always getting it right second time around but never the first, true they made a couple of changes that in all honesty most Saints fans would have made two games ago and the return of Ostlund, Idiakez and Saganowski offered us players in the right positions and a balance, but in the first half this was a team that went out there with no motivation, pride or perhaps in the way they conceded the goals from set pieces, no preparation.

Hopefully the duo will have learned from their mistakes and if they are still in charge in the next week will continue with last nights starting eleven and even tweak it further, because the fact is that Euell and Wright are not good enough and we have players chomping at the bit to prove their worth and that showed last night in the second half.

 Things are still a long way from being right with Saints, but at least the second half revival shows that there is the basics there to pull clear from trouble, the only question being will it be because of Dodd & Gorman or in spite of them !   

Photo: Action Images

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