Home comforts lift City again
Four of the top six sides in the shape of Norwich, Leeds, Millwall and Swindon have failed to take maximum points at the Park.
So while the bookies clearly fancied Saints, the wise punter would have resisted the temptation to pile cash on Alan Pardew's side.
City are a tough nut to crack on their own patch — unless Carlisle are in town — and they once again proved they are a match for a top side. Not for the first time this season, Paul Tisdale's side made the gap between two sides boasting vastly contrasting resources look negligible.
To put Saturday's achievement in perspective, Saints dished out more than £2m during the January transfer window, while City had invested £50,000 having splashed out their first transfer fee in seven years.
You never would have guessed it though.
Danny Seaborne, who swapped St James's Park for St Mary's two weeks ago, fanned the flames on the eve of the match by claiming City had gone as far as they can go.
Ironic really as the Grecians used the match to launch their Pitch in for City campaign — a drive to raise money for a new playing surface.
And the state of City's pitch was again an issue, with Saints boss Alan Pardew slamming it.
Not that Pardew had much reason to moan as his side shaded the first half and got a deserved opener through the impressive Adam Lallana.
The midfielder cut inside Steve Tully far too easily and buried the ball into the bottom corner.
And the visitors really should have doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time as Jason Puncheon looked odds-on to score.
But his wild blast over the bar left him holding his head in his hands and reduced Pardew to a frustrated figure in the dugout.
Not for the first time this season, City emerged a brighter outfit after the interval and when Scott Golbourne delivered an enticing corner, Matt Taylor rose to power a header beyond the reach of Kelvin Davis.
And had the Saints stopper not got fingertips to Bertie Cozic's stoppage time shot, the ball would have nestled in the back of the net instead of cannoning back off the post.
Seaborne, bloodied and bruised by a physical tussle with his former teammates, almost had the final say as he muscled his way into the penalty area to leave City with hearts in their mouths.
However, there was to be no fairytale return for the 21-year-old, his scooped effort ballooning over the crossbar. A draw was probably the right result, even though Barry Corr will have flashbacks of the moment he should have fired City in front on the hour mark.
Adam Stansfield slipped in Harley and his cross was delightfully arrowed into the path of the Irish striker.
A moment's hesitation was all it took for the ball to get stuck under Corr's feet before the Saints cleared the danger.
Although the result leaves City just two points above the relegation zone, it will give them added belief that they can survive in the third tier.
Their battling performance was epitomised by the persistence and tigerish work rate of Joe Burnell, who replaced the injured Alex Russell for his first City start.
It wasn't a day for fancy football, but it did make for an intriguing battle.
Taylor, Rob Edwards and Richard Duffy ensured Saints' leading goalscorer Rickie Lambert was restricted to precious little in front of goal.
And the tireless running of Corr and Adam Stansfield might not have reaped clear-cut chances, but it did give City the platform to match the promotion-chasing Saints.
With 16 games remaining, Tisdale's side will probably need to pocket around 20 more points to be reasonably confident of escaping relegation.
If they can continue to chisel out points against the leading lights and beat the teams in and around them, survival is well within their grasp.
