THEY SAY derby matches are amongst the most unpredictable in football.

But the strange thing about the south coast one at St Mary’s at the weekend was how oddly predictable much of it was.

Saints v Portsmouth is always a special occasion – for Hampshire, for the fans, for the clubs.

And this was no different.

The teams went toe-to-toe as well, both sides giving every last drop of energy and passion and making it a very entertaining tie.

But in the end certain things we believed to be true at the beginning of the match proved to be the case.

Saints are a team and a club on the up, Portsmouth are heading in the opposite direction.

But Saints still have much to do to reach the level that Portsmouth’s squad are currently at.

There is no shame in that whatsoever.

Saints are battling to get out of League One. Portsmouth are battling to stay in the Premier League.

There should be a difference in quality, and that is exactly how it proved.

So much of this derby was similar to many of Saints’ league games this season, only with the roles reversed and Saints as the underdogs.

Saints were fired up and made sure they closed and harried Portsmouth, that they didn’t give them a second on the ball.

They had their chances but needed to be clinical if they weren’t going to be left to rue missing them.

But once they had missed them, the game was predictable.

Saints couldn’t keep up the workrate and intensity for 90 minutes and in the end Portsmouth exposed them.

They had the extra pace and, more critically, the extra quality to take advantage and run out winners.

Saints recognise the situation.

In League One they have normally been the favourites, arriving with the extra quality to face sides who know they do not quite have the same calibre of players.

So they have made sure Saints don’t get an easy ride.

They will work, press and try give it everything they’ve got physically.

Then they will hope to create a couple of chances they can take.

They know if they miss then Saints’ extra quality is likely to see them win.

It was predictable roles would be reversed against Portsmouth, and that was exactly how it proved.

Saints have yet to get used to overcoming the pressure of being favourites, which is what separates the champions from the also rans, but are better when they are the underdogs.

They got right in the faces of Portsmouth from the start, got stuck in, made sure they didn’t have room to settle and knock the ball about.

They allowed little room for Pompey to exploit their searing pace.

The first half was pretty much all Saints. The trouble was they didn’t get the goal they needed while they were on top.

Papa Waigo could have given Saints the lead after ten minutes when Rickie Lambert’s terrific left wing cross found him peeled off at the far post.

In time and space six yards out he directed his downward header towards goal but with little power and David James saved.

Waigo had half a chance moments later as he was picked out by a direct ball but rather than shoot first time he tried to take it down and a heavy touch saw the opening close.

Radhi Jaidi put over a header from two yards at the far post after James had let a corner squirm through his hands on 34 minutes.

The closest Pompey came in the first half was Jamie O’Hara’s fierce drive from 30 yards that Kelvin Davis turned over.

The second half started as the first had ended.

Adam Lallana had a hat-trick of chances, forcing James into one fantastic save from a far post header and two more routine ones.

But when Quincy Owusu-Abeyie was brought on things changed.

The game was stretched and Pompey’s pace, along with Saints’ tiring legs, started to create space all over.

That was only likely to favour the Premier League men.

Pompey grabbed the lead on 66 minutes when Owusu-Abeyie nonchalantly nudged the ball to his right and effortlessly curled a shot into the bottom corner.

It was a piece of pure quality, even if Saints should probably have not stood so far off him.

But the lead lasted just four minutes as Lambert wanted a header more than Marc Wilson and from six yards out finished Dan Harding’s free kick.

The goal showed all of Saints’ resilience and fighting spirit.

But the remainder of the match showed that little extra bit of quality that hundreds of thousands of pounds in wages buys.

Portsmouth regained their advantage on 75 minutes when Owusu- Abeyie threaded the ball past the diving Chris Perry and found Aruna Dindane in behind.

He lifted the ball across Davis who got a leg to it but couldn’t stop it from looping into the far corner.

Saints briefly thought they had equalised on 80 minutes when Lee Barnard slammed home Lallana’s deflected shot, but he was correctly flagged offside.

Then Pompey put the game to bed with two further goals in the space of three minutes.

The first, with eight minutes remaining, came as a result of O’Hara’s fantastic long pass.

It was straight into the path of Nadir Belhadj who forged into the area, dummied one way to send Davis off balance and finished low at his near post.

Their fourth some three minutes later was a lovely move as Belhadj crossed to the far post, Owusu-Abeyie sidefooted it back first time to O’Hara and he in turn rasped a half volley with such power that Davis could get a hand to it but couldn’t keep it out.

Saints never let themselves down but eventually Pompey’s extra pace and quality was the difference.