Saints 2 Oldham 1

After Oldham had ridden a storm of early Saints pressure they hit Nigel Adkins’ men with a sucker punch of a goal from Dean Furman.

Jose Fonte scored at a vital time just before the break to equalise before second-half sub Alex Chamberlain scored a superb goal to take Saints to their third home league win on the spin.

Rickie Lambert so nearly got Saints off to the perfect start with a terrific free kick on four minutes.

It was 25 yards out but well to the left of the area.

However, he wrapped his right foot around the ball and saw his well struck effort dip just before the bottom corner only for Dean Brill to get down well to his right to save.

Jason Puncheon had Brill beaten two minutes later with a low drive from outside the area but his effort skipped over the turf and struck the outside of the post.

Saints were putting Oldham under massive pressure and forcing some errors.

Paul Black got caught in possession by Puncheon only for his low cross to Lambert to be cut out before Saints cheaply the ball again for Morgan Schneiderlin to fire over from distance.

But for all that Saints should have fallen behind on 12 minutes.

Richard Chaplow’s high header looped into his own area and fell to Oumare Tounkara who was one-on-one with Kelvin Davis.

The Saints keeper reacted superbly to save at Tounkara’s feet and it was just as well because the goal would have counted despite the linesman raising his flag as the referee spotted the ball in was via Chaplow.

But there was nothing Davis could do when Oldham took the lead on 22 minutes.

Dean Furman broke forward from midfield and received a superb pass round the corner right into his path by Chris Taylor.

When through on goal Furman stretched to produce a superb finish across Davis and into the far corner for 1-0.

Saints threatened to get back level immediately when the ball fell to Lambert on the edge of the area but he fired over the bar.

Dale Stephens was the next to have a go but he smashed an effort well over the bar from 25 yards.

Saints had come out of the blocks looking rampant but were really struggling to regain their rhythm after the setback of conceding a goal.

Puncheon tried to make something happen as he received the ball after a swift break. Just inside the area he cut back onto his left foot but curled an effort wide of the far post.

Guly do Prado had half a chance when played through by Lambert but he was quickly closed down and his shot went well wide.

Oldham boss Paul Dickov was fuming when his side conceded a cheap free kick on the right by-line virtually at the end of one minute of stoppage time.

He was even angrier when Adam Lallana delivered the ball in right footed that perfectly picked out the head of Jose Fonte’s whose solid header flew into the back of the net for 1-1.

It was a perfect time for Saints to get their equaliser and set them up with the chance to try and get the win in the second period.

Dan Harding provided Saints with a bright moment not long after the restart with a deep cross from the left that was headed back across goal by Fonte but hacked clear by the Oldham defence.

Saints had appeals for a penalty and what surely would have been a red card turned down on 53 minutes when a high ball over the top set Guly in on goal.

Reuben Hazell tracked him back and was tight to the back of him and when Guly’s shot was not clean he went down claiming a foul.

However, Andy D’Urso was having none of it and waved away the protests.

Schneiderlin became the first man in the book for a foul on Stephens.

Oldham made their first change on 61 minutes with Dean Kelly replacing Tounkara.

Though still a threat going forward Oldham looked more content with sitting deeper and making Saints have to work to break them down if they wanted a win in the second period.

Saints were battling hard but still struggling to regain their fluency.

Saints made a double change on 67 minutes with Lee Barnard and Alex Chamberlain coming on for Puncheon and Lambert.

Schneiderlin had half a chance as the ball broke to him in the area but he fired over under pressure.

Saints were just a little flat and looking for that little bit of inspiration that would lift the crowd and surely bring a sustained period of pressure on Oldham.

They got exactly that lift when Chamberlain fired them in front on 73 minutes.

Again Oldham conceded a cheap free kick, it wasn’t properly cleared and despite appeals for handball Chamberlain bulldozed his way through a melee of players and slammed home a fierce finish across goal that gave Brill diving to his right no chance and it was 2-1.

Oldham made a second substitution on 79 minutes with Lewis Alessandra replacing Richie Jones.

Saints were not hanging after scoring the goal and instead were piling further pressure on Oldham who were defending desperately to keep the deficit at one.

They made their final change with eight minutes remaining with Paul Wotton coming on for Guly as Saints switched to a 4-5-1 formation with Wotton in front of the back four and Barnard the lone striker.

Oldham responded with Ryan Brooke replacing Feeney.

When the board went up it showed five minutes of stoppage time for Saints to see out.

Chamberlain nearly sealed the win in dramatic fashion with a brilliant run from inside his own half that ended with a shot that hit the inside of the post and came back out.

Davis made a brilliant save moments later from Taylor’s diving header and when the final whistle went the three points belonged to Saints.

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