Derby 1 - Saints 0

The goal which plunged them to the foot of the table would have been comical if it were not so tragic.

Craig Burley's corner on the left was ballooned up in the air by James Beattie aiming to clear into the crowd from eight yards.

For once Paul Jones misjudged the flight of the ball, thinking it had already drifted out of play.

Instead it swirled in well behind him landing just inches from the line with slow-motion replays failing to show whether it went straight in off a post or via Youl Mawene.

That trivial detail hardly matters to Saints in the greater scheme of things.

Of far more concern is the impact of losing a match they largely dominated - and to very mediocre opposition enjoying their first Premiership win since the opening day of the season.

Derby look doomed - but then neutrals would probably view this drab spectacle and insist it featured two sides destined to drop.

Statistics would appear to back that up with Southampton having taken just seven points from what is effectively a third of the season gone.

But they are slowly inching in the right direction, at least in terms of performance.

They looked solid at the back while the front two have proved they can score goals with the right service which was largely lacking on this occasion.

The two best chances both fell to Paul Telfer who hit the bar with the first from eight yards and then lashed into the side-netting with the second.

Saints' fans at the other end thought at first he had scored, as he should have done with the goal at his mercy after Mart Poom had palmed away Chris Marsden's dipping shot from the left of the area.

Either of those would surely have shattered Derby's brittle confidence which was evident from the off.

Saints controlled the first quarter of the game until they gave away one of the most bizarre goals since the formation of the Premiership, real Sunday League stuff - if that's not an insult to those playing in the parks.

But it happens. More worrying was the inability to deal with it and to hit back to win - or at least to salvage a draw.

For all their huff and puff through the second half, the belief did not quite seem to be there.

Derby were very ordinary but they were fired by that goal which inspired them to fling themselves into 50-50 tackles or irritating interceptions.

Their robust and resolute back three remained unmoved all afternoon as they dealt with a succession of crosses hit more in hope than expectation.

But it was in midfield that the home side really held the upper hand as they closed down with powerful pressure play to prevent Saints finding any rhythm.

Chris Marsden put up one-man resistance, continually driving forward, but the spark just would not come in the final third.

With so much at stake Derby concentrated on a containing game, challenging Southampton to break them down and confident that they would not succeed.

Even the introduction of Matthew Le Tissier failed to secure a breakthrough but it might have been better to give him a deeper, more creative role than as a replacement for Beattie.

And with 10 minutes left it might have been worth the gamble of throwing on new Ecuador winger Kleber Chala.

Gordon Strachan probably worried about the language barrier and the shape of the side as well as the fact he had not seen him play live.

Sometimes the unpredictable can make all the difference - as Derby proved with their unearthing of the unorthodox Paolo Wanchope.

And by then there was little to lose and a lot to gain. For it is impossible to gauge the full impact of this result both short and long-term.

It was clear just how much it meant to Derby to hold on while, for all their pressure, there was never any real feeling that Saints were going to find an equaliser.