THERE WAS something utterly inevitable about the identity of the man who would break the strikers' scoring duck at St Mary's Theo Walcott, at just 16, seems to be smashing records every week and this was certainly one that needed breaking.

Not since Henri Camara fired in an 88th-minute winner against Norwich in April had a Saints striker scored in a competitive match at St Mary's.

That's over 12 hours of play, a statistic that looked even worse when you bear in mind they have now dropped down a division.

It rather typifies the problems Saints have had this season.

So, it was no surprise that on his first senior start at St Mary's, Walcott should be the man to get things going again.

Probably the only shock was that it took some 16 minutes to come.

But while Walcott has been grabbing all the headlines, it could go unnoticed just what a solid unit Saints are looking at the moment.

Defensively, Michael Svensson has done brilliantly since his return to the first team scene and Claus Lundekvam seems invigorated by it as well.

In midfield they are always solid, though on Saturday they did miss the steadying presence of Matt Oakley.

And with Walcott scoring goals up front, they are not far off being there.

But, perhaps what is somewhat of a surprise, is just how well Neil McCann is doing.

That is not meant to sound disrespectful. After all, he's not won trophies in his career by not being a good player.

But after so long spent struggling to break into the side for any length of time, many had given up hope that he ever would.

Clearly McCann did not and was probably the best player on the pitch on Saturday.

He's dislodged Kamil Kosowski on the left of midfield and is showing every quality that is needed in the Championship.

He can beat players and get quality crosses into the box, as a winger should, but he offers more than that.

McCann is also gritty, not afraid to do the painful things and, as such, adds a dimension to the team.

It's not often you see a genuine winger who is also a real team player, who tracks back, tackles and is a gritty aggressor as well.

The only thing missing for him is a goal. But after playing well at Millwall last week and again against Stoke, you could almost see his confidence grow as he was playing.

If he is, as it would seem from his record, a confidence player, then there may be plenty more to come from him.

Perhaps his time has come. After all this waiting and stop start, maybe he will show Saints fans what he can do in a consistent run in the team.

Well, back to Walcott.

He almost broke that scoring record in the opening seconds when he produced a great finish from 20 yards that left the keeper with no chance.

Sadly, though, referee Ray Olivier didn't allow an advantage as the throughball had been handled and blew his whistle just as Walcott unleashed his shot. It was poor refereeing.

But the goal didn't take too much longer to come.

On 16 minutes Nigel Quashie played a beautifully-weighted ball over the top of the Stoke defence, Walcott's pace took him away from the defender and his finish was very cool, low to the keeper's right and into the bottom corner.

Stoke, ravaged by injuries, did find it tough to get a grip on the game.

It got even worse for them before half time when Marlon Broomes was sent off for allegedly striking Walcott with his arm.

The rest of the first half and then most of the second had a common theme - Saints having total dominance and missing chances to put the game out of reach.

In fact, as the last ten minutes came around, there probably weren't many in St Mary's who didn't think Stoke would equalise.

But Saints were still strong and Djamel Belmadi wrapped up the win in injury time with a first time shot across Steve Simonsen from 12 yards out.

They got there in the end. It could have been over sooner, but at least Saints won. The only question is - what records are there left for Walcott to break?

The first Saints player to score in how many successive matches?

It could be a good quiz question anyway.