THERE is something about Saints v Norwich relegation battles that equals goals - and plenty of them.

Throw in glorious April sunshine and a healthy dose of nervous tension and you have the ingredients for a classic.

Remember Carrow Road, April 9th 1994?

On that occasion two relegation foes were battling for Southampton's cause.

How times change.

Left-back Simon Charlton was denied a rare goal by Antti Niemi's world class save after coming on as a substitute for Norwich on Saturday.

And Iain Dowie, who is plotting Crystal Palace's potential route to safety, will be pitting his wits against Harry and Jim at Selhurst Park next weekend.

But eleven years ago Charlton and Dowie were part of the Saints side that stayed up by a single point.

That 5-4 win at Norwich, a game in which Matt Le Tisser scored a memorable hat-trick, went a long way to preserving top-flight status.

Who is to say that history will not repeat itself?

Le Tisser may not be available but the spirit that helped him keep the club up virtually single-handed during the 1990s was very much in evidence at St Mary's on Saturday.

The goals were shared around this time with both attacks tucking into the respective defences as though they were the piece de resistance in one of Delia Smith's cookery books.

But it was not just the back fours that contributed to a recipe that should be stashed away with Delia's finest.

Both sets of fans created arguably the best atmosphere in St Mary's four-year history.

It surpassed the 2003 FA Cup win against the Canaries by some distance for occasion and importance and that was reflected by a raucous 31,944 sell-out crowd.

While Norwich went in search of their first away win of the season buoyed by chants of 'Come on, Let's Be Having You', the partisan Saints following turned St Mary's into a sea of red and white.

Both sides have done well to still be in with a chance of surviving the drop after throwing away two-goal leads at home.

No-one needs reminding of Saints' collapse at home to Aston Villa. And Norwich's strikers haver also papered over the cracks in their back four, which were most in evidence when they led Manchester City 2-0, only to lose 3-2 on the night of Delia's infamous call to arms.

Delia happily signed autographs in the St Mary's directors' box at half-time on Saturday after a mouthwatering first course in which both sides shared six goals.

But while she would have enjoyed the starter provided by David Bentley's third-minute volley, the visitors found the dessert stomach churning.

Henri Camara bounced off the bench to ensure an unpalatable finish for every Norwich fan present and give Saints supporters a Dell-like memory to take home with them.

But this relegation scrap is far from over and it will require more inspiration from the archives if Saints are to perform another miracle.

When Saints last went to Selhurst Park on the penultimate day of a Premiership season needing a win to survive the drop - on May 8th 1999 - they beat tenants Wimbledon 2-0 and survived by five points.

On that occasion James Beattie and that man Le Tissier scored the goals in front of a 24,068 crowd mostly made up of Saints fans, who famously turned SE25 into Dellhurst Park.

Exactly six years on and Claus Lundekvam is the only survivor from that side likely to feature against Dowie's Palace.

Now it us up to him and his current Saints teammates to roll back the years a second time and draw inspiration from another vintage day for the club.