SOUTHAMPTON may have lost the FA Cup Final but their fans were the real winners on the historic day in Cardiff, according to the city's first citizen.

Mayor of Southampton Brian Parnell was among the thousands who travelled from the south coast to the Millennium Stadium for the match.

Despite the result he was full of praise for not only the Saints team but also their legions of supporters who turned the Cardiff stadium into a sea of yellow and blue.

"The team put up a terrific fight and at the end the fans were marvellous,'' he said. "Arsenal may have won the cup, but in terms of the supporters, I think Southampton beat them 6-1."

Cllr Parnell added: "Even the man introducing Sir Bobby Robson who presented the cup paid tribute to the way Southampton's supporters didn't stream out of the stadium but stayed on until the very end.

"But even when we were leaving the city in the morning, there were people on the bridges over the motorway - at least between Southampton and Winchester - waving to all the cars and buses.

"And I think the Echo's publicity, particularly over the last three weeks, played a major part in generating the interest."

Southampton Test MP Alan Whitehead also praised the fans, although he reckoned their margin would have been 6-0 and not 6-1.

"But," he said, "the match itself was not in any way the favourites strolling to victory over people who were there for the day. Arsenal had their superior skills, but there were several parts when the Saints had them on the run.

"In a way, it was one bit of luck short of a fairytale ending and I certainly don't think it will be 27 years before we see Southampton in another FA Cup Final.

"One of the points about the game is that they have a number of players who were not embarrassed for quality and the heart is there.

"They did Southampton proud and I think we can look on it as part of the forward march of the Saints."

Unable to go to final was city council leader June Bridle but she too was full of praise for the players and the fans.

"They were a credit to themselves, to the club and to the city," she said.

"They got there and they did great credit to the city and they were always in with a chance. If it hadn't been for that great save by David Seaman near the end and the clearance off the line by Ashley Cole, it might have been so different.

"But there's another season to look forward to, the Saints have got places to go and those places include Europe, of course."

Regular Saints' follower John Denham, the MP for Southampton Itchen, had seen all the games in the cup run apart from the Norwich match, because of a conference commitment.

And he recalled: "It was a cup run with a lot of highlights and a lot of happy memories.

It was also one where a lot of different people played their part.

"Kevin Davies came in and scored against Millwall (at St Mary's) and then Matthew Oakley got on the scoresheet with two goals in the replay (at the New Den) and then we had the final where Paul Jones made his mark with an impressive save."

Mr Denham described the overall strength of the squad as "pretty good", but reflected: "I think most regulars recognise the need for one or two more players to enable us to go further."

On the final, he said: "We were always in with a chance and the team kept battling right until the end."

THE SOUTHERN DAILY ECHO CAN NOW OFFER HUNDREDS OF PHOTOS TAKEN BY OUR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS AT THE FA CUP FINAL IN CARDIFF. GO TO THE 'THIS IS THE SAINTS' SECTION OF THE SITE AT: http://www.thisisthesaints.co.uk