Extended report: Eastleigh 3 Saints 3

First half - bad start, better finish

Having taken the lead in the opening minute, the hosts used their power and strength to stop Southampton playing their preferred passing game. When Eastleigh doubled their tally halfway through the first period, you began to wonder which side was supposed to be on the end of a beating.

But Saints edged their way back into the game, with Nathan Dyer's work down the flanks looking the most promising line of attack, but with Jamie White also threatening to conjure an opening.

It was Dyer who put Saints back in the contest, by finding space and executing a crisp finish from just inside the area five minutes before the break.

If the diminutive Dyer does serve out another season at St. Mary's, he is surely a better option than Wright-Phillips on the right flank. There isn't a huge amount to his game, but his electrifying pace does make him a permanent threat.

Saganowski, it has to be said, was a crushing disappointment. Far from dying for the shirt, he barely even perspired for it. He seemed somewhat confused about the role he was expected to play, but worryingly disinterested too.

It's hard to believe that a cameo appearance and two full games at Euro 2008 took so much out of him. Surely this was a golden opportunity, against very inferior opposition, to notch a hat-trick and force his way into the Dutch duo's plans.

But so lethargic was his first half performance that he is probably behind the languid Rasiak, out-of-favour Stern John and the stupendously mediocre McGoldrick in the pecking order. He did not re-emerge for the second half.

Second half - Saints fall off the McLagon

The second period saw much crisper passing play from Southampton in something resembling an orthodox 4-4-2 formation. Much of the credit has to go to Kayne McLagon, who assumed the right midfield position after the interval.

He looks similar to Dyer, and - although he lacks the same blistering pace - he has greater body strength and good positional sense. Eastleigh couldn't contain him. He was able to create time and space for himself and stretch the home side's backline - thereby creating many more possible openings for his colleagues.

Unlike so many Saints players, he doesn't seem hell bent on doing all the hard work only to put in an ineffective cross - typically, he was able to find a team mate or at least plant the ball into a contested danger zone.

Whilst Saints played much better as a whole in the second half, McLagon deserves particular credit for building the platform from which they should have won. His impact on the match was significant enough for various spectators to think aloud about how "tasty" the Saints' No. 12 looked and for several - seeing me clutching a teamsheet - to ask me to name-check him.

Once White had produced a controlled finish from the edge of the area and Pattison had netted a McLagon cross, Southampton seemed content to close out the match. And they would have done so, but for a comedy mix-up between Pernecky and his centre half which gifted the hard-grafting Eastleigh an equalising goal with two minutes left on the clock.

Verdict - lack of depth a concern

This often felt more like watching cricket than a football match and it's hard to read too much into these sort of games. On the downside, I'd say that the Saints squad lacks depth and there are some serious questions hanging over the number of credible options we have for the wing-back slots.

Mills look good going forward, but considerably less composed in the back line than as a winger. Saganowski is either unfit, disinterested or both. The plus points were a scintillating forty five minutes from McLagon, some genuine signs of Jamie White's real potential and a reminder that Nathan Dyer - for all the legal and contractual problems hanging over him - could yet make a meaningful contribution to Southampton's season.

A pleasant afternoon in the sun, but not much here to get the pulse racing.