Southampton 0 Arsenal 2

Although Southampton is not that far from Brighton, a direct, picturesque but slow rail trip along the coast or a car journey down the A/M27, I do not get there that often. This said, I have great admiration for their football team. Over the last few years their owner has passed away, they have lost two outstanding managers in Ronald Koeman and Mauricio Pocchetino, and virtually a whole team, they sold £90m’s worth of players to Liverpool alone and Chambers, Schneiderlin and Wanayama to Arsenal, Manchester United and Spurs. Yet last season they finished 6th and this season got to the League Cup Final and are just in the top half.

I went to the game with a Arsenal friend from Hove. After a excellent fish lunch at The Urchin in Hove where my bouillabaisse was 10% of the cost Bob Tickler paid for his in Tetou on the Riviera, we drove down to St Mary’s, Southampton’s stadium. It’s situated in a light industrial wasteland. I remember the old Dell ground, with its extraordinary open end which went from 1 to 250 like an upward graph, and could only accommodate 15,000. St Mary’s is a bowl in the modern style typical of the new build stadium with excellent sight lines but lacking in soul and atmosphere. The stewards – Brighton HAFC jobsworths take note – managed to do their job courteously and we enjoyed a drink in a convivial space that was a media hub with tvs, bar and restaurant. It was a ground and club where you did not feel threatened.

After a tepid first half distinguished by 2 fine saves by Petr Cech of Arsenal, the away side stepped up the pace and played more directly in the second half. In Alexis Sanchez they had what Southampton lacked, a clever goalscorer who twisted, turned and sold dummies to open the scoring. Giroud added a second with a header from close in from a Ramsay cross when the Southampton defence went missing. The Arsenal fans did not seem to be anti-Wenger, singing “He has won more than you, Pocchetino”. Arsenal would beat the middle and lower ranking teams in the Premier but they are no longer a side with title potential. The ball is passed laboriously and laterally allowing the opposition to regroup. The crossing was inaccurate and easy to defend and they never got to the bye line to deliver the type of low cross that defenders do not like.

I followed the Sussex CCC Royal London game at Essex. After 3 straight wins, we lost by 10 runs. Out tail is too long and even though speedster Jefra Archer chipped in with a good score he ran out of partners. On Sunday Brighton HAFC have their open bus celebration. Ok, we lost 2 out of last 3 matches with keeper David Stockdale conceding a soft goal in the 89th minute, but it’s also true we finished 5 points with a 30 goal goal difference than Reading in third place.