Cardiff 2 Saints 1

You can change the players, you can change the manager but some things never change for Saints. We always start the season badly, we always let in late goals and we always concede from set pieces. Against Cardiff we managed to achieve all three despite a spirited performance which was full of effort, if not quality. That could in part be put down to the poor conditions but the fact is that we’ll need to grind out points home and away if we want to spend the season looking to the play-offs instead of the relegation zone.

Michael Svensson was back and if he can return to even 70% of the player he once was it will be a huge boost. He’s a natural leader in defence that Saints have missed so badly in his absence and given the lack of able competition at the back we’ll need him to start more league games than not this season. Another obvious bright spot for Saints was the goal, with Surman and McGoldrick both hinting that this season they might convert their promise into more assists and goals this term (as they’ll have to!).

Looking ahead, we’ve got the tricky away tie to Exeter in the Carling Cup then the home game against Birmingham on Saturday. For a young side momentum is even more important that usual and I get the feeling that one win could become a decent run but another defeat, with difficult games looming, could leave us with the all too familiar feeling of falling behind the early pace.

Category: Match Reports

Tags: 2-1 Defeat, Cardiff, Match Reports, Saints, Svensson

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