Preston North End showed guts, determination and a little bit of Christmas spirit to snatch all three points in dramatic circumstances at St. Mary's.
A 90th minute winnner from super-sub Lewis Neal put the seal on an amazing journey for Alan Irvine's side and helped the Lilywhites out of the relegation zone just in time for Christmas.
And who would have given North End a hope? North End's travel plans were thrown into chaos the day before the game when their flight to Southampton had to be rediverted back to Manchester due to thick fog at Southampton. The North End squad could only look on in dismay as the flight cruelly taunted Irvine's men by doing a 45-minute fly-by of the St. Mary's stadium before returning to the North West. Preston were made to wait for a coach to collect them from Manchester Airport and didn't get to their Southampton hotel till beyond midnight.
The players got an extra hour in bed on Saturday but were still forced to endure an anxious wait to see if the game would go ahead. Despite having undersoil heating the St Mary's surface was frozen solid in patches and the referee gave the pitch three seperate inspections before giving the match the go-ahead.
But Preston showed little sign of distress against the Saints in a battling display. The game hinged on two pivotal moments late in the game. Andy Lonergan was forced to pull off a world class save from Polish international Gzregorz Rasiak just as the Lilywhites looked to have done enough to earn a draw, but seconds later North End turned one point into three when Alan Irvine's double-substitution proved to be a masterstroke when Agyemang teed up Lewis Neal for a brilliant winner.
North End made just one change from the side that had got Preston's first away win of the season at Burnley the previous week. Darren Carter replacing the injured Paul McKenna in midfield, there were also changes on the bench with Kevin Nicholls and Patrick Agyemang returning to the fold at the expense of Youl Mawene.
Andy Lonergan had to be alive to a couple of early testers in the opening 10 minutes. He forced both of them behind for corners, the second of which came after Hammill was afforded time and space in the middle of the park to drift towards goal and hit a shot that was deflected away, Lonergan tipped it around the post for safety.
Preston had a first real sniff of goal on 14 minutes when Darren Carter swung a free-kick towards the back post. Sedgwick, Chilvers and St. Ledger all challenged for the ball and it came flying across the six-yard box, it almost landed at the feet of Gallagher before Jermaine Wright smashed the ball away for a corner.
North End had snuffed out any early pressure and it wasn't until the 26th minute that the Saints next created a chance. It came when Surman was played in behind Matt Hill on the right-flank and he clipped a low ball across goal that Wright-Phillips got the merest of touches to, it was glanced well wide.
In the 28th minute Chris Sedgwick was gifted an opportunity when Carter hit a corner in from the right, Liam Chilvers challenged and his half-header bounced into the path of Sedgwick, lurking 15 yards out in front of goal, but he skied his shot over the bar.
Saints had a clear chance in the 35th minute when Jason Euell broke clear down the middle of the pitch and as he got about 30 yards out he slipped Wright-Phillips into the right-hand channel. It took a last gasp challenge from Matt Hill to divert Wright-Phillips' shot over the bar.
Paul Gallagher created and almost finished a great move two minutes into the second half. An incisive ball sent Sedgwick clear down the right and he somehow chipped the ball into the path of Gallagher who had carried on his run into the penalty box. Gallagher drilled an effort at goal and though it found the side-netting it had the North End fans thinking it had found the back of the net.
Saints went straight up the other end of the field and almost got a goal for themselves. It took a brave challenge from Chilvers to deny the South Coast club, Stern John had got on the end of a Hammill cross from the right, took the ball down and drilled an effort at goal, Chilvers threw his backside in the line of fire and diverted the ball to safety.
It was real end-to-end stuff at St. Mary's at this point with Gallagher again through on the right channel, this time he brought a good save from Kelvin Davis.
It was back up the other end of the field moments later as Jason Euell tried an effort from 35-yards out, it was hit straight at Lonergan though and he did well to hold on to the ball. He did well again in the 54th minute when Skacel cut inside from the left and drilled a shot towards the near post, the keeper dealt with the shot easily.
Carter had obviously been inspired by Euell's earlier effort when he tried his own long-ranger. This one was a lot closer for the Yellows, this one beat Kelvin Davis and smashed back off the woodwork. It almost hit the keeper and bounced into the empty net, but the keeper also just got enough on it to divert it away from Mellor who was lurking menacingly.
North End had a flurry of corners on the 60 minute mark and though one was given much to the distain of the Southampton crowd, the North End players felt they should have been awarded a penalty. Billy Jones burst onto the corner and looked to have been pushed but the referee saw the decision the other way and gave a free-kick.
Simon Whaley grabbed the goal of the game in the 1-1 draw at Southampton last season and he fancied his chances again in the 70th minute when he got plenty of time and space to tee up a shot from about twenty yards out. But the midfielder spooned the effort well over the bar off of his right boot.
Preston's first substitution of the afternoon came in the 71st minute when Patrick Agyemang came on for Neil Mellor who had put in an industrious shift in attack.
Sean St. Ledger had to be at his defensive best in the 77th minute. The Yellows were under the cosh a little and the ball came out to Saganowski on the left, he drilled a ball across the face of goal and St. Ledger managed to corkcrew his neck to divert the ball away from danger.
In the 80th minute of the game Preston made a second change when Lewis Neal came on for Chris Sedgwick
Grzegorz Rasiak was sent into the fray in the 82nd minute as a late replacement for Stern John.
A real moment for Preston in the 84th minute. Agyemang had set Whaley clear on the right and he in turn fed Gallagher who had acres of space in the box, he looked up and he clipped a ball across the face of goal.
Andy Lonergan pulled off the save of the game as the seconds ticked down. Hammill had cut in from the left flank and floated a ball into the danger zone. North End's defenders tried to play the off-side trap but they only succeeded in allowing Rasiak a free-header eight-yards out. The Polish striker couldn't have asked for a better opportunity to put the Saints ahead. Lonergan pulled out a save from the top drawer to palm the ball away.
It was a save of magnificent significance.
With the game headed for injury-time Patrick Agyemang stole half a yard on his marker down the right channel, he set off towards goal and for half a second it looked like he might be in on goal. But Agyemang slowed the play down, looked up and hit a ball across the face of goal, seemingly to nobody. But Lewis Neal arrived extremely late to plant the ball past Kelvin Davis and into the back of the net.
Attendance: 23,267
