Ricardo’s not fazed by Saints boo boys

Southampton 3 Stoke City 2

JUST for a split second, when gifted the chance to equalise late in the game, you might have thought Ricardo Fuller was thinking, for once in his life: “Please, don’t go in.”

A none-too-popular Saints striker until 12 months ago – not to mention a player with Portsmouth pedigree before that – he’d already heard his name chanted with rather secular phrases throughout the afternoon after being placed somewhere between Harry Redknapp and the Mayor of Pompey in their affections.

A goal then would have had 20,000 people chasing him all the way back to the Potteries after fans and players alike were outraged by what they considered a crass lack of sportsmanship.

They were up in arms because Fuller had taken aim at goal from distance – and only just cleared the crossbar – after the referee had awarded a drop ball following a stoppage for Ryan Shawcross to receive treatment.

But an unrepentant Fuller insisted: “I didn’t do anything wrong. I just did what was natural to any striker.

“The ref had said drop ball and their player went for the drop ball, so I decided to shoot.

“I know their fans and players were annoyed, but my only disappointment was not scoring.

“The banter with the crowd doesn’t bother me. I know what I have to do, I just never did it today.”

He was still protesting his innocence at the final whistle shortly afterwards when he was doubtless giving vent to his own frustrations at the same time.

It was an afternoon for Stoke defenders to distinguish themselves as they saw far more of the ball than their counterparts in Fuller territory.

“The heat was difficult and we didn’t have enough possession,” he observed, “so we ended up defending most of the time.”

At least the Jamaican international was able to play with a clear head after friends and family back home escaped the worst of the hurricane battering the Caribbean earlier in the week.

“The island is a bit devastated,” he said, “with roads damaged, electricity cut off and no water in places. But everyone seems OK and thank God it wasn’t any worse.”

Preparations elsewhere in the Stoke camp were not quite so uneventful, however, as Liam Lawrence faced an early morning dash from the Midlands following the birth of his child, Danny Higginbotham joined Stephen Wright on the sidelines once again and Mama Sidibe was cracking his head open against some part of former Stokie Wayne Thomas.

So the omens were hardly in Stoke’s favour and, notwithstanding Fuller’s fine turn and shot from Sidibe’s 10th-minute nod down to open the scoring, the tide of play was nearly always in Southampton’s favour.

Stoke’s lack of cohesion with the ball – and lack of mobility without it – left them frequently back-tracking somewhat raggedly and gifting the kind of space to invite a stream of long-range shots.

Steve Simonsen answered the call almost without fail to pull off a series of fine saves at full-stretch, the best of which saw him react smartly to prevent Nathan Dyer squeezing a low shot between keeper and near post in the second half.

Simonsen could do little to prevent the impressive Andrew Surman firing one across him from distance in the first half, however, nor Grzegorz Rasiak heading home Southampton’s second and Jhon Viafara firing their third from Jody Craddock’s headed clearance.

That left Stoke on their knees, in truth, and reflecting mournfully on the earlier chances they themselves had enjoyed in a game of countless goal attempts.

Sadly, Shawcross saw a first-half header cleared off the line – or possibly from behind the line – while Kelvin Davis saved headers from Shawcross and Sidibe via successive corners shortly after half-time.

At least Stoke’s refusal to toss in the towel in the blazing heat at 3-1 was rewarded with the sight of Jon Parkin’s looping header beating the man on the front stick from a right-wing corner.

Salvation may not have been entirely deserved on the balance of play, but it would have spoken deafeningly for the spirit of a Stoke team still holding firm in the face of unfriendly circumstances.

But that spirit can only resist for so long against the kind of severe work overs inflicted by Southampton for painfully long periods on Saturday. This performance was, you fear, far more indicative than its two predecessors of what lies ahead if the present squad is deprived for much longer of the additional pace, mobility and quality it so patently requires.

Not to mention leadership when that man Higginbotham finally cuts the chord on a wonderful 12 months at the Britannia.

SIMONSEN: Countless long-range saves and little chance with the three goals 8

WILKINSON: Rarely wavered defensively and was solid in the 50/50s 7

HILL: Had his work cut out against the nippy Dyer, but another to pin his colours to the mast 7

SHAWCROSS: Probably his most difficult work out yet, but remained prominent in air at both ends 7

CRADDOCK: Punished for a weak header on third goal, but never went missing under considerable duress 7

LAWRENCE: Did well to play after paternal concerns overnight, but had little chance to shine 6

MATTEO: Never lost heart against superior passing and movement around him 6

DELAP: Ditto Matteo, plus a few tasty interventions inside his own area 6

CRESSWELL: Too much of his best work was done in his own third – it was that kind of afternoon 6

SIDIBE: A gold medal for bravery once again and takes credit for first goal 6

FULLER: Classy finish and a storming run soon after, but a largely frustrating day as a bystander 7

SUBSTITUTES

PARKIN (for Sidibe,73): Soon began ruffling feathers and a fine header to double his season’s tally 7

PULIS (for Lawrence, 79): Fresh legs for the closing stages and his corner teed up Parkin 6

EUSTACE (for Matteo, 79): Thrown on to recapture some midfield control for final push for equaliser 6

Not used: Hoult, Dickinson.

SOUTHAMPTON: 1 Davis, 10 Wright, 7 Skacel, 3 Thomas, 6 Powell, 18 Dyer, 16 Viafara, 30 Safri, 11 Surman, 8 Wright-Phillips, 9 Rasiak.

Substitutes: 2 Ostlund (for Skacel,46), 4 Saganowski (for Wright-Phillips, 85). Not used: 13 Bialkowski, 14 Hammill, 17 McGoldrick