The Saints were playing Doncaster Rovers in a 3PM kickoff.
Basically, the match was a prerequisate for Saints-Pompey on April 7th.
But the bigger story was it was Billy Sharp's first match against his former club.
(Sharp made the move to St. Mary's during the January 2012 transfer window.)
Billy was the lone scorer in the Saints-Donny match at the Keepmoat back in December.
Southampton Starting XI: Kelvin Davis, Danny Butterfield, Jose Fonte, Daniel Fox, Steve De Ridder, Morgan Schneiderlin, Jack Cork, Adam Lallana, Billy Sharp, Rickie Lambert
Saints subs: Richard Chaplow, Dan Harding, Lee Barnard, Dean Hammond, Aaron Martin
Doncaster Starting XI: Carl Ikeme, Pascal Chimbonda, Habib Beye, Adam Lockwood, Herita Ilunga, James Coppinger, Simon Gillet, Giles Barnes, John Oster, El-Hadji Diouf, Ferderic Piquionne
Donny subs: Kyle Bennett, Fabien Robert, Mamadou Bagayoko, Chris Brown, George Friend
The atmosphere around St. Mary's was electric.
The match was concluded as a sell out (in preparation for Pompey) at 30,209.
In the first half, the Saints had several chances to get quality looks on goal, but their first touch was letting them down. They really needed to settle into the match as it seemed everyone was sharing Billy Sharp's jitters. Fortunately, while the forwards collected themselves, the back line kept Doncaster at bay.
De Ridder, who had made an impact in the Hull match, was in the starting line up and worked the right flank and LB to pieces. Sharp and Lambert were fed several times via De Ridder and Lallana, but were unable to turn the opportunities into chances.
The first half ended in a 0-0 stalemate.
When the second half got underway, the Saints looked the better attacking side. The squad pressured Donny's back line right from the kickoff of the 2nd. 15 minutes into the second 45, Southampton nudged in front from a corner powered in by Billy Sharp. After the ball went in, all emotions Billy had were released and his concentration seemed to dial in.
15 minutes after his first, Sharp added to his confidence and collected a second on a brilliant move 1 on 1 against the keeper. The two Sharp goals would be the difference as Donny's attacks never amounted to anything significant.
With the win, Southampton remains 5 points clear of Reading who kept pace with a 3-1 win at home against Blackpool. Blackpool is barely holding onto a playoff spot, 1 point ahead of Birmingham City. Third placed West Ham were only able to draw level at Burnley and remain 9 points back of league leading Southampton and 4 points behind Reading.
Southampton FC 2 (Billy Sharp '58, '74) : Doncaster Rovers 0
Southampton are away at Blackpool on Saturday March 31st before they return back to St. Mary's to faceoff against South Coast rivals, Portsmouth FC on April 7.
