If only the Saints defence had been as strong as that mounted by Dave Jones after Kevin Davies was sent off!

The manager's press conference should have been the usual speech about careless errors and loss of concentration at key moments.

Instead it was dominated by the red card Davies received for his lunge on Gerry Taggart, which became the talking point of an unremarkable game.

The substitute had only been on the pitch nine minutes when he went for a loose ball which Taggart nicked away a split-second before the young striker dived in.

It was certainly reckless but definitely not malicious from Davies who is not the type ever to look to hurt an opponent.

But it looked - and sounded - bad and there were initial fears that the City defender had broken a leg as he was stretchered off 15 minutes from time.

That coupled with the angry reaction of the Leicester players and crowd may have influenced Orpington official Mr Knight to produce the red card which he had kept in his pocket earlier when Emile Heskey dived in on Hassan Kach- loul.

Heskey's foot was high and both challenges were similar yet the home player received a yellow card while the Saint saw red.

If one went, the other surely had to follow suit. Probably both should have stayed on but that inconsistency incensed the Saints fans who taunted the referee with chants of: "You don't know what you're doing."

And that was before he tried to send off Kachloul for a second caution when he had not previously been booked!

As tempers flared late on, the Moroccan grappled Robbie Savage round the neck to pull him back. The yellow card was no surprise but Saints were stunned when it was followed by red.

It was only when Mr Knight checked his notebook that he realised his error and allowed Kachloul to stay on.

In a strange way, though, the fiery finale seemed to stir Saints, who suddenly began to play and almost snatched an unlikely draw.

Jason Dodd's good early ball to the near post was met by a cushioned left-foot volley from Marian Pahars at full-stretch on the six-yard line.

The goal gave the ten men hope as they piled forward in the closing stages but they were unable to repair the damage done by two trademark lapses at the back.

The first, after seven minutes, undid a steady enough start. Perhaps attention wandered to the midfield tangle between Chris Marsden and Savage with one seeming to pull the other's hair - no prizes for guessing which!

In the meantime, Andy Impey twisted and turned past Francis Benali and whipped over a good cross for Heskey.

His header bounced off the chest of the luckless Dean Richards and across goal and, although that may have been unfortunate, it could not excuse the fact that Steve Guppy reacted quickest. The former Colden Common winger stole away from Dodd to volley in from six yards.

It was a similar story for the second on 38 minutes just when Saints looked like they might get through to the break without further damage.

Claus Lundekvam tugged back Heskey on the left wing and Muzzy Izzet's free-kick was too high for the England centre-forward but was bundled back across goal by Taggart.

Tony Cottee peeled away from Dodd to prod home the kind of close range poacher's goal he has made his trademark down the years.

Saints were tighter after the break and at times they played some decent football - up to the final third of the field, where the final ball was lacking.

They never really hurt the home side and it was not until the 82nd minute that they finally mustered their first shot on target, a straightforward save for Tim Flowers to make from a low 20-yard drive by his old adversary Matthew Le Tissier.

Too often Saints found their way blocked by City's fully-committed and well-ordered midfield which is exasperatingly hard to play against.

Neil Lennon, Savage and Izzet worked tirelessly in the middle to win the ball and move it out to the flanks, where Guppy and Impey provided quickfire ammunition for Heskey and Cottee to feed off each other.

Their quickfire passing at pace and their direct but well-ordered approach kept Saints at full stretch.

And when they did get forward it seemed their every move was blocked by the indomitable figure of Matt Elliott, who came close to moving to The Dell three years ago.

It was only when the game boiled over late on that Saints found the head of steam they had been searching for and, although they almost snatched a point, it would have been rough on in-form Leicester, who have now won five in a row to move up to fifth.

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.