And it was one that I only found about at the beginning of the week.
As a prelude to my first match at Saint Mary's Stadium, Andrew Mackinnon invited me to Southampton FC away at Doncaster.
At quarter past 12, I piled into the car with Mackinnon and his dad, headed for Doncaster.
We arrived at Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, Yorkshire about an hour prior to kick-off.
Plenty of time for some pre-match photos!
On to the match...
Southampton headed into the match with a 2 point lead in the table over West Ham United (@ home to Burnley FC). Both teams would find their places in the table challenged throughout the course of both matches.
The Saint's played fairly well, not flawless football by all means in the 1st half, but they were able to hang on to a 0-0 dead lock thru the first half. There were very few chances for either side in the 1st half which contributed to that halftime scoreline. Doncaster's, Billy Sharp, notched the only goal of the match with around a half hour left in the 2nd half. Southampton found themselves reeling for the rest of the match trying to equalize. Unfortunately they were unable to do so with the match ending 1-0 in favor of Doncaster.
I was disappointed that Rickie Lambert was not in the starting XI, nor on the bench, but he is recovering from a small injury and will hopefully be available for the match against Blackpool. None the less, for a first match as a precursor to the match at Saint Mary's, I can say I am well on my way to being a fully fledged Saint's supporter. Just need to brush up on the songs. :D
Starting XI for Southampton FC: Kelvin Davis, Frazer Richardson, Steve De Ridder, Jose Fonte, Jos Hooiveld, Daniel Fox, Jack Cork, Dean Hammond, Morgan Schneiderlin, Guly Do Prado, Adam Lallana.
Southampton Substitutes: Lee Holmes, Bartosz Bialkhowski, Dan Harding, Lee Barnard, Aaron Martin.
Starting XI for Doncaster Rovers FC: Carl Ikeme, James O'Connor, Habib Beye, Herita Ilunga, Sam Hird, Herold Goulon, Brian Stock, Simon Gillett, James Coppinger, Billy Sharp, Marc-Antoine Fortune.
Doncaster Substitutes: Kyle Bennett, George Friend, James Hayter, Neil Sullivan, Giles Barnes.
At the end of the day, there was no switch between 1st and 2nd place in the npower Championship table. Nor was there any ground gained or lost as West Ham was unable to keep their 1-0 lead as they fell to Burnley, 2-1. Southampton hung onto the 2 point lead they entered the day with. Southampton's next match will be at home against Blackpool on December 10th.
Southampton 0 : Doncaster Rovers 1 (Sharp 60')
I think compared to Old Trafford, regardless of the lack of attendance at Keepmoat Stadium, the atmosphere in the npower Championship is really exciting. Mackinnon has promised me that the match next Saturday (Dec 10) will be even better as Saint Mary's Stadium will be full of Saint's supporters. I also liked the idea of the 1 tier stadium because it seems to create more of a connection between the spectator and player.
Photo prior to the 1 minute applause for the late Gary Speed, the great Welsh footballer and manager. Speed has been honored in football grounds across the United Kingdom since his death on November 27, 2011.
"Yellow! Yellow! Yellow! Yellow!"
As always, for the full album from Southampton FC @ Doncaster Rovers, visit my Facebook.
