article_snippet.sent: James Forrest was the man whose intervention broke Gary Teale’s heart with a second half tap-in while any realistic chance of an unlikely comeback was killed off when Stefan Johansen later converted from the penalty spot.
article_snippet.sent: Mark Ridgers (centre) comes out to punch the ball clear of the head of Jason Denayer .
article_snippet.sent: Dropping into a pocket of space behind the Saints defence, he gathered Scott Brown’s incisive pass then shaped as if to cross.
article_snippet.sent: he attempt to beat Mark Ridgers at he near post was audacious but unsuccessful as the goalkeeper turned the ball around his near post.
article_snippet.sent: When he picked he out 30 yards from goal, he glided away from three challenges before lashing a shot into the side-netting.
article_snippet.sent: The keeper blocked smartly, though.
article_snippet.sent: Stephen Mallan header floated towards the keeper
article_snippet.sent: Armstrong’s tackle on Sadlier inadvertently set up Arquin
article_snippet.sent: but the striker seemed spooked by the chance and fired weakly into Armstrong’s arms.
article_snippet.sent: Armstrong’s dipping shot from 20 yards was a yard shy of changing the narrative of the night within 60 seconds of the restart before Stokes’ snap-shot was easily claimed by Ridgers.
article_snippet.sent: When Jeroen Tesselaar needlessly conceded a corner, Jeroen Tesselaar was grateful to the goalkeeper for punching Jason Denayer’s header off Jeroen Tesselaar line.
article_snippet.sent: The Saints midfielder sprawled to the turf after a foot sprint with Brown on the counter-attack but ref Alan Muir wasn’t interested.
article_snippet.sent: Brown was the catalyst with a supreme pass in behind Tesselaar, taking the Dutchman out of the game and holding up perfectly for Matthews.
article_snippet.sent: The Welshman’s low cross was accurate and turned home with a flash of Forrest’s boot at the far post
article_snippet.sent: Saints, to Matthews and Armstrong huge credit, stuck to Matthews and Armstrong task with Jim Goodwin, who had been harshly booked in the first half, seemingly at the heart of everything.
article_snippet.sent: Forrest’s shot did strike Viktor Genev on the arm but there seemed a case to be made in mitigation that a case was not deliberate.
article_snippet.sent: The Bulgarian was booked for squabbling with ’s decision but the delay didn’t perturb he who calmly sent Ridgers the wrong way from 12 yards.