SHIFTS IN momentum often mean a lot in football but come along rarely. Saints have had two in the space of just over a week.

The signing of Jan-Paul Saeijs and the return of Marek Saganowski buoyed confidence and Saints duly completed a much needed victory at Barnsley.

It wasn’t pretty or particularly convincing but it was three points on the board.

At that stage, it just seemed momentum, which in football is everything, was slowly starting to build in Saints’ favour.

But it all came crashing down on Saturday and those few shoots of optimism have been replaced by fervent pessimism.

From last week’s position of hope there is now a feeling of hopelessness. From light at the end of the tunnel, Saints suddenly feel caved in.

It was not only losing at home to Doncaster, though that was bad enough.

It was the change in atmosphere at the ground and once that momentum goes against you you’re in big trouble.

You can only take your hat off to the Saints fans that have stuck behind the team this season and remained loyal.

Yes, they have seen some good football at St Mary’s but they have not been rewarded with results.

However, they can see it’s a young team and a honest manager who are genuinely trying their best and they’ve supported them for that.

They appreciate that this position is not their fault, not of their making, they’re just trying to do the best they can in the circumstances.

When they turned – and boy did they turn on Saturday – it was generally not directed at the pitch but at the directors’ box.

This has happened before.

That watershed match against Ipswich at St Mary’s was when the crowd turned against Rupert Lowe in almost unanimity.

And, once that took place, the writing was on the wall.

Now it has happened again and surely the protests will only get more fervent. Once that fighting spirit is broken it’s hard to repair.

And that will only serve to make it even harder for a team who have only won one home league game in 14 attempts this season.

On the pitch things are slipping away and Saints need to go careful to ensure they don’t go down with a whimper.

Jan Poortvliet will be key to that.

There are worrying signs – Chris Perry’s reaction to being substituted for example.

Also, the strange 3-2-3-2 type formation Saints adopted for the last half hour which the players didn’t appear to ever get to grips with.

But then maybe it was a move borne out of desperation for goals that have been so lacking this season.

Some of those wonderful pre and early season plans are quickly being abandoned in the reality of a dogfight.

A word of caution, however, for those who call for Poortvliet’s head. In the current situation, stability may well be the best option.

A change like last season, bringing in a Nigel Pearson type and splashing out on a few experienced loan players just won’t happen.

It will just be somebody different with the same bunch of players. At least Poortvliet does seem to be able to instill some belief into the team even in the face of horrible results.

Sadly though the table never lies and, for all their good football, with 18 games of the season left Saints are the second worst team in the Championship.

It was an odd game against Doncaster as Saints didn’t really play all that badly. In fact, in the first half, they did very well in what was an open, attractive game of football.

However, the second half was totally different.

Saints had several chances they should have made more of in the first half, Lee Holmes forcing Neil Sullivan into a good save with his legs before missing the target when picked out unmarked eight yards out at the far post.

Marek Saganowski also tested Sullivan and saw a header cleared off the line.

For all that, though, Kelvin Davis still had to make very good saves from Lewis Guy, Sam Hird and James Coppinger while the same man put his overhead kick over the bar after a collision between Davis and Morgan Schneiderlin left the goal empty.

Having played some good football, you felt if Saints just got a little more clinical in the final third they would take all three points in the second half.

That theory was rocked though when they conceded a goal just 12 seconds after the kick-off.

Saints appeared to still have their minds in the dressing room as they allowed John Spicer to run straight down the middle before the ball came to Coppinger.

His shot deflected off Bradley Wright-Phillips and fell to Martin Woods 12 yards out in acres of space and he lashed a first time shot into the bottom corner for 1-0.

It was a hammer blow for Saints as the previously open Doncaster, playing a style that suited Poortvliet’s men, now dropped deep and got numbers behind the ball.

Saints have been terrible at breaking down those kind of teams all season and this proved no exception.

The switch to the new formation did little to help, either, as they lost their effectiveness out wide.

After Davis had saved again from Coppinger, Saints did at least look likely for a few minutes as first Saganowski forced Sullivan into a save and then McGoldrick’s superbly hit effort from distance saw the Doncaster keeper stretched to turn over the bar.

But it was Doncaster who got the next goal nine minutes from time, more stand off defending eventually allowing Coppinger to cut in from the left by-line, bypass Davis and tap home from close range.

Saganowski did slide home a consolation in injury time but by then the damage was done.

Let’s hope this game proves a mere body blow rather than a fatal one.