SAINTS fans turned up in buoyant mood to cheer their team off to Cardiff in the last St Mary's match before the FA Cup final but went home more muted than they had hoped.

This game had few chances and a very odd feel to it. It was almost like and end of season match between two midtable teams with nothing much to play for.

But that shouldn't have been the case.

Saints could have gone up to eighth had they won and talk regularly of wanting to go into the final on winning form and Bolton are in a desperate fight to stay up - you wouldn't have guessed it.

It's even odder when you think of the attacking way Bolton have been playing of late and all the goals flying in at both ends for Saints.

It could have been a cracker. Instead it was summed by Dennis Rofe when he labelled the game "disappointing."

Neither side ever really threatened to control the match and in most positions players simply cancelled each other out rather than individuals winning their battles.

But that's the way it goes in football sometimes and not even the livewire Jay-Jay Okocha could make anything happen. He was well shackled but could just be called a wire for this display.

What both sides did have was a centre half on the top of their game.

For Saints it was Michael Svensson. For Bolton it was Gudni Bergsson.

Both played in a similar style - big, powerful, uncompromising and reading the game well.

And, as well as being rocks at the back for their sides, both had among the best chances to break the deadlock.

Svensson's first chance came on four minutes when Chris Marsden flicked on Matt Oakley's cross for the Swede to meet with a diving head from six yards out but he put wide of the post.

Just after the half hour mark Svensson did make Jussi Jaaskelainen work when he drove James Beattie's flick goalwards but straight at the Bolton keeper.

Bergsson's efforts came in the space of five second half minutes - one a header that was just wide of the target and the other a header that was just over the bar.

But it was a game where openings were few and far between - in truth it was very low-key.

On 13 minutes Brett Ormerod turned his marker but fired a shot straight at the keeper.

Ten minutes before the break newly crowned player of the season Beattie controlled Anders Svensson's long range shot and blasted it into the top corner but the flag had been raised immediately for offside.

In the second half Ormerod failed to make clean contact in front of goal after Beattie had done brilliantly to control on his thigh and get the ball to the far post after Fabrice Fernandes' lovely ball down the line.

And that was pretty much it.

The only thing that remained constant for Bolton throughout the game was the spine of their team as they regularly changed formations and players regularly swapped positions.

But, though there were few bad individual performances, there were not that many great ones either.

Neither side really got into their stride as everybody knows they can and that was a shame for a 30,000 plus crowd who were in party mood.

But, while their spirits might have been dampened on Saturday evening, the whole city will be buzzing again by now - the cup final is never far from the minds of anybody in Southampton.