On the Cross Verdict - Saints 1 QPR 1

Niemi
Hajto, Lundekvam, Powell, Higginbotham
Prutton (Kosowski, 74), Oakley (Wise, 84), Quashie, Belmadi
Fuller, Jones (Ormerod, 74).
Subs: Cranie, Smith.

Harry kept with the settled line-up that has been producing some quality football of late, with Jones returning to the side after injury in place of Ormerod.

He must have been tempted to start with Kosowski after his excellent form for Poland in the recent internationals. Saints youngsters Walcott and Dyer failed to make the bench as Harry opted for experience in the shape of Ormerod and Wise.

Although QPR were direct and looking to hit Saints on the break, Saints were rarely troubled at the back. After last season’s calamities, Claus was looking classy and composed, complemented by the aggressive defending of Darren Powell.

A moment of madness at the back gifted QPR their goal against the run of play. Darren Powell left Danny Shittu unmarked to power in a free header from a corner much to the delight of the large travelling contingent of QPR fans.

Saints midfield started brightly with a series of neat interplays that left QPR chasing the ball. However, QPR’s well organised side gave them little space to get the ball into the areas that really mattered and as the game progressed the midfield ran out of inspiration.

Quashie and Oakley were their usual dominant selves in central midfield, but Belmadi failed to reach the heights he has scaled in recent games despite some moments of magic on the ball. It seems that as against Coventry Championship sides are beginning to mark him out as the danger man.

The introduction of Kosowski in place of the industrious but largely ineffective Prutton will provide Saints fans with a good deal of hope for the future. He was skilful, direct and clearly has an eye for goal. This encouraging performance may well have earned him a starting berth against Ipswich and it was just a shame that Harry left it so late to introduce him.

A Saints midfield with Belmadi on the right and Kosowski on the left, has a balanced look to it, complemented by the Premiership class of Oakley and Quashie.

I may as well copy and paste one of the previous match verdicts to describe yet another disjointed performance in attack, with Jones and Fuller failing to link up effectively or to show the necessary composure in front of goal.

For all that QPR frustrated Saints, we still created enough opportunities to win the game and this will be a major worry for Harry, having failed to sign a high quality striker in the transfer window.

An unfit-looking Jones failed with an air shot from six yards out and Fuller missed a close range header at the death to win it. Ormerod at least ran the channels well, but never looked like scoring as the game petered out to the frustration of the crowd.

Saints urgently need to find more cutting edge up front to turn our dominance in possession into goals. How we miss the quality of Crouch and Phillips for all the moments of promise of Jones and Fuller. A return to fitness for Pahars would provide a real boost, but after two injury plagued years Saints fans won’t be holding their breath.

Fair play to QPR who battled hard and were happy with the point. Saints will play many games like this in the Championship, particularly at home, with sides defending deep with two lines of four and it is vital that we learn how to kill teams off. As today showed, all it takes is a moment of careless defending to mean dropped points against sides we should beat.

After two 1-1 draws in winnable games, Saints need a confidence boosting win against Ipswich on Tuesday night to gain back the momentum from our previous four consecutive wins.

Man of the match: Claus Lundekvam (seriously!) - can this really be the same player that suffered such a dip in form last season? He proved a cool head at the back and made a number of timely interceptions when QPR were well placed on counter attacks. After his goalscoring form for Norway, he even looked a good bet for first scorer at 33-1! Will I ever learn?

Lemon of the day: In an otherwise good performance, it has to be Darren Powell for losing his man and allowing Danny Shittu a free header.

Cameo of the day: Kamil Kosowski’s first appearance in a Saints’ shirt was one to remember with the Polish international quickly demonstrating his class. Fellow Pole Tomasz Hajto thanked him for joining the Saints by pinging huge crossfield passes at him at every opportunity and he used them to good effect and gave their right back a torrid few closing minutes. Let’s hope there are more good performances to come.