Saints battled to a rugged win against  the Tractor Boys.

To call this a great win would be pushing it a little, however there was much to take heart in as Saints slowly fought their way to taking control of the game against an Ipswich team who had much of the possession bbut did little with it except pump crosses into the box.

Of course it was a greatly changed side than perhaps Alan Pardew would like to have put out, but injury, suspension and of course cup tied players meant that this was very different to the eleven who played at Millwall.

However all of those on show put in a gritty display and got stuck in to show the size and versatility of the Saints squad.

Ipswich though took a firm grip on the game in the first half and had Saints on the back foot for long periods, however though they got plenty of balls in the box they seemed shy of shooting when within range so Kelvin Davis's goal was rarely threatened with any great force.

But it was Saints that took the lead a little bit against the run of play when Wayne Thomas unleashed a screamer from distance on the half hour.

In the second half Saints re jigged a little and dropped debutant Lee Barnard back into the midfield and gradually Saints got a grip on the game on 70 minutes on came Mikhail Antonio and within two minutes he had put the home side two up, tapping in from close range after the Ipswich keeper failed to hold a Lambert free kick, Saints then never looked like losing the game, well at least not till the 90th minute when they let the concentration lapse and found themselves having to face five minutes of injury time, that no one except the ref had any idea where it came from.

But Saints dug in and survived a late onslaught to book their place in the 5th round, on leaving the ground I reflected that in every other season I have supported Saints, four win in the FA Cup would have seen us in the semi finals.

A few things to mention, firstly the defence was magnificent, given that none were first choice in our last league game, Alan Pardew has some real thinking to do before Tuesday's game at Brentford, especially as to who to play in the middle.

At left back Joseph Mills showed for the second game running that he has it in him to be a quality left back, he also looked to be able to build a solid partnership with Lee Holmes.

In midfield Paul Wotton had a solid game and left the field to a standing ovation and Simon Gillett came in and showed that he has the class to play in the Championship let alone league 1, if Alan Pardew is looking at what he needs in the centre of midfield with the loss of both Schneiderlin and Hammond at present, then these two showed him that he need'nt look outside of the club.

Perhaps the only disapointment on the day was Lee Barnard who didnt really show why we have bought him, however it woud be unfair to  judge him on this display as when he was up front he rarely got the service needed and in the second half he was forced to drop back and graft in midfield, which he did do.     

Photo: Action Images

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