Saints are a flop in their back yard once again

Saints slashed the prices for this tie and even gave out hundreds of free tickets - and it was still a waste of money.

The freebies to schoolchildren were supposed to entice the next generation of supporters; some hope!

They are more likely to have been put off for life by this desperately disappointing debacle as Glenn Hoddle's side flopped in front of their own fans once again.

It was the fourth time this season they had lost on their own patch to poor opposition, an alarming trend which is now becoming too repetitive to be merely bad luck.

The games have largely followed the same dire pattern with Southampton having most of the play, failing to take their chances and then being caught on the break.

What made this defeat even harder to take was the sickening timing of Coventry's winner just two minutes from the end of extra-time.

City boss Gordon Strachan was in the process of writing down his penalty takers when John Eustace lashed in a scrappy goal which summed up Saints' night and the way things are going for them right now.

Maybe it was a case of tired legs in the Southampton defence or perhaps they were already in spot-kick mode themselves. Either way they failed to react quickly enough to Barry Quinn's hopeful long ball from the right.

As Claus Lundekvam stumbled, the ball bounced off the shins of Mustafa Hadji and into the path of Eustace. His powerful 12-yard shot deflected off the back of David Thompson to wrong foot Paul Jones.

To add insult to injury there was even a suspicion of offside against the former Liverpool man who was most definitely interfering with play.

Until then this dour game had 0-0 written all over it. Both sides were so lacking in confidence that fans were beginning to think it might stay goalless even after penalties!

But somehow there was an air of anxiety around the ground that this might happen both in the closing minutes of normal time and the extra half-hour.

After so many Dell disappointments this season, it was almost a fait accompli - not least because Saints had once again had the better chances even though they did not play well.

Their game lacked cohesion as they frequently gave the ball away cheaply to put themselves under unnecessary pressure from an unambitious Coventry side.

Strachan's men did not even force a save from Paul Jones for 74 minutes and their winner was their first effort on target in the whole of extra-time.

Ysrael Zuniga should have hit the target when he let fly totally unchecked from 25 yards on 14 minutes after blocking Jason Dodd's attempted clearance. And Cedric Roussel had a goal disallowed for leading with his elbow as he outjumped Paul Jones two minutes after the break.

But their only real goal attempts were powerful long-range drives from Mustafa Hadji and Thompson in the space of four minutes late in normal time. Both were superbly tipped away by Jones at full-stretch.

By contrast Saints had four excellent opportunities and a string of half chances despite their patchy approach work which lacked any of its early-season zip and zest.

Marian Pahars set up Kevin Davies who side-footed wide when well-placed 20 yards out on 15 minutes and then James Beattie had a shot on the turn well saved.

Mark Draper's chip was prodded into the path of Davies who hit the keeper at close range and then back-heeled the rebound for Beattie who was unable to turn the ball in and Jo Tessem's follow-up was blocked.

The only real bright spot of the night came on 43 minutes when Pahars cut in horizontally from the right and hit a scorching left-foot shot towards the top left corner.

It looked certain to be almost a carbon copy of last season's strike at home to Derby but young prodigy Chris Kirkland made an excellent tip over.

Pahars should have scored with a near post header from Matthew Oakley's hanging cross from the right on 75 minutes but he nodded just wide on the run. Any one of those might have set Saints moving properly and restored the confidence which was so noticeably absent, but too often there was a lack of conviction about their finishing.

Players snatched at chances or hurried their passes, a clear sign that they are not at ease.

Too often there was no-one making a run in support for those in possession, or if they did it was up a blind alley where they could not be found.

Consequently they lacked fluency and real drive and when they did get forward, too often there was no-one in the danger area.

Pahars, an ace goal poacher, was stuck out wide a long way from where he is most effective.Yet conversely Imants Bleidelis, a nippy winger, was resigned to a central role.

He at least injected badly-needed pace into the side, doing enough to suggest he may be worth an overdue chance in the Premiership in a more orthodox role with Kevin Davies struggling to make his mark from a wide berth on the right of midfield.

Beattie also drifted wide, knocking in some dangerous crosses. But it seemed with so many players hugging the flanks, there was no-one getting on to the end of balls into the middle.

To their credit Coventry stubbornly stuck at it, refusing to concede ground and growing in belief that they could win it as the match progressed.

Saints lacked the imagination and the self-belief to prise them open and then compounded the floundering with the late lapse.

Conceivably, depending on the FA Cup draw, this could prove to be the last ever cup tie at The Dell.

If so, it will be a desperately sad way for cup football to say farewell to a ground which has staged so many memorable matches in the knockout competitions.