After seven long years without a derby, the south coast was keyed up for a real cracker - but in the end it was no contest.

Saints were superior to Portsmouth in every department, and as soon as James Beattie tucked away the first goal in the 33rd minute we may as well all have gone home.

From the goalkeeper, through to the defence, into the midfield and then the strikers ... Saints had the edge everywhere you looked.

This match was far from a classic, but it's results that count and this was one of the most important of the season so far.

Not only because it was Pompey, but also because it could mark a watershed in the season.

And also because lost somewhere among all the hype is the fact that Saints are now in the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup.

That means they are just two more rounds from a repeat visit to Cardiff, another crack at a piece of major domestic silverware and a route back into Europe.

But the main motivation for the fans was beating Pompey.

Oddly, the atmosphere in the ground was somewhat subdued for half of the game.

Before kick-off it was electric - marred only by the Pompey fans' shameful failure to observe the period of silence for Ted Bates.

With hindsight, the Saints fans that shouted back might consider they should have kept quiet and just let the Pompey fans disgrace themselves.

If anybody needed anymore firing up then that provided it - as did the suspense of the 15-minute delay to the kick-off.

Ultimately, though, Saints won this tie in cruise control. They were still far from their best but far too good for their south coast rivals.

Gordon Strachan had spoken of a return to the basics that made his team so successful last season.

After the weekend's terrible first half midfield performance, changes were duly made.

Neil McCann was dropped from the squad altogether while Anders Svensson was on the bench.

Jason Dodd was at right-back, pushing Paul Telfer into the centre of midfield with Rory Delap. Chris Marsden and Fabrice Fernandes resumed their roles on the right and left respectively.

Marsden added steel and decent ball retention while Fernandes was able to keep the ball and relieve pressure - a rare thing in a Saints midfielder in recent weeks.

It would be a lie to say this was Saints at their best.

There were still issues for concern, such as the amount of possession they conceded, but it was a step in the right direction.

And it was important for James Beattie to get scoring again.

Kevin Phillips was out with a virus and so Brett Ormerod came in. He was rarely worrying the Pompey keeper, but Beattie seems to score when they play together.

That was the case on 33 minutes when St Mary's went mad.

Ormerod robbed Boris Zivkovic and laid the ball out to Marsden on the left.

He looked up and superbly picked out Beattie with a first time cross and the Saints striker ghosted in behind Dejan Stefanovic to neatly finish.

Claus Lundekvam could have given his side the lead with a rare goal in the fourth minute, but his header was a good height for debutant Pavel Srnicek to dive and save while Telfer also came close.

For Pompey, Yakubu's deflected shot off Lundekvam, Steve Stone's effort straight at Antti Niemi and Teddy Sheringham's rejected appeal for a penalty were the nearest they came in the first half.

But once Saints had scored, Pompey never looked like challenging them for the result as the home side strangled the game in a clinical fashion.

Chances were few and far between in the second period until injury time when Saints doubled their lead.

Beattie burst into the area and was brought down by a clip from De Zeeuw.

Graham Poll had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and issuing the Pompey defender with a red card.

Beattie stepped up and duly dispatched the spot kick to send St Mary's wild again.

This was far from a classic performance and not even the kind of blood and thunder derby many had predicted.

In fact, the game was quite disappointing.

But there was only one thing that mattered to both set of supporters and that was winning.

Round one to Saints.