Saints supporters stayed away in droves, but after months of Premier League defeats at St Mary's, those who remained faithful, saw a spirited performance that almost secured the 3 points.
The official attendance for this match was 29,366, but if Phil Parsons & Johannes Spors needed a reminder of what next season might be like if things continue as they are, then this was the night that they well and truly got it.
A full house these days is around the 31,200 mark, so if the official attendance is to be believed then there should have been only 2,000 empty seats, the reality was that a few thousand season ticket holders turned round and said "no more" for this game.
The problem is for Southampton FC is that if this translates to those not renewing next season, then our average crowds are likely to be around the 25,000 who actually attended the game last night, there were swathes of seats in all areas and our owners and board should take note.
Those who did turn up where not confident heading towards the ground, it was very much gallows humour and the starting line up didn't improve the mood.
But what they got was a spirited performance were everyone dug in and in the main stood firm, it was just a shame to give away that goal in injury time that once again cost us points.
The three contested selections in the team were the inclusion of Tall Paul, Sulemana & Jack Stephens, especially Captain Jack.
Tall Paul put in a shift, at times he was woeful but he never stopped battling and trying and he scored the goal that almost became the winner.
At times it was difficult to work out where Jack was playing, at times he was the left sided player in a back 3 and at others in the centre of a back 5, but although I have often been a critic of his performances, I am not on this occasion, he put in a shift, however he perhaps should have been a bit nearer his man on the equaliser.
Sulemana was his usual self, at times he looked unplayable, but too often there was no end product.
Saints started the game badly, almost going a goal down in the opening 90 seconds, the ball hitting the underside of the bar but thankfully it span out of the goal and not in.
This let off saw Saints start to find their feet and on 20 minutes we took the lead, great interchange play between Fernandes and Flynn Downes who played some quick one two's culminating in a Fernandes pin point cross that Tall Paul headed home.
Now we had something to defend and the crowd started to get behind the team, you could see some of the confidence returning, although it did take a superb save from Aaron Ramsdale to keep the scores level.
After the break Saints looked assured, although there was still the odd lapse in concentration, Palace had a lot of the ball, but struggled to get efforts on target.
As legs tired the worry was what substitutions would Ivan Juric make, his track record is not great, he left things late this time, not making his first till the 71st minute when Big Les Ugochukwu who had run his legs off was replaced by Joe Aribo.
The next on 81 minutes was enforced, the injured Manning being replaced by Wellington and Sulemana coming off and Tyler Dibling on, for once you felt that Juric's substitutions both in timing and personnel were spot on.
The last one at eh clock turned to 90 mins saw Flynn Downes who had also had a decent game replaced with Sugawara and Tall Paul coming off for Cameron Archer again wise substitutions and fresh legs.
The 8 minutes of injury time probably wasn't too far off given the number of injuries and substitutions, but only 2 minutes in and Palace were level, in truth as I have said, Jack Stephens who hadn't done much wrong all game, just got caught napping for a second and at this level that is enough.
Now the mood changed and there was the feeling that Palace might win it, but the team dug in and saw the final 6 minutes through with only one scare.
So a good result in relative terms, although disappointing given the late equaliser, but it did show those who turned up that there is a side in there somewhere, it just needed good management and for once Ivan Juric got it right.
It is disappointing that we couldn't hang on and get those 3 points that would see us overtake Derby County, but it does show that we can compete with good strong mid table sides in the Premier League and that bodes well to get those points in the remaining 8 games.
It is hard to pick a man of the match, for once there were some actual contenders and a few of them at that, Kyle Walker- Peters at the back never stopped running, Aaron Ramsdale kept us in it, Flynn Downes and Big Les anchored the centre of midfield and Mateus Fernandes showed why he is a class act.
The man of the match was the team as a whole and that included the supporters, who turned up and got behind the team and stayed with them, I have watched some awful games at St Mary's this season, but this is why I keep going, for the ones that buck the trend and perhaps turn the tide.
It was also good to see that former Saint Nathanial Clyne was given a good ovation when he was substituted, truth is we could do worse than sign him next season, he like Kyle Walker-Peters is out of contract, he will turn 34 on Saturday, but in the Championship could be a good experienced replacement for KWP.
Relegation could still be confirmed at the weekend, if we lose and Wolves win then we are down, it looks likely given that Wolves are at Ipswich and we are at Spurs, but it would be nice if we could get 3 points to both keep mathematical certainty away for another week and also get the 3 points that take us above Derby County's unwanted record.
Before this weekend I would have said that this was highly unlikely, but there was a fight and spirit in the team rarely seen under Ivan Juric, so perhaps it could happen.