Saints off the mark after Smith pounces

SOUTHAM picked up their first MidComb win of the season at the seventh time of asking on Monday, coming from behind to beat their near-neighbours.

Racing Club led 2-1 at the break courtesy of goals from Stuart Herlihy and James Travis, but with an increasingly strong wind at their backs after the break, Saints dominated both possession and goalscoring opportunities to run out worthy winners.

There was little between the two sides in the first half, with a surfeit of goalmouth action keeping a bumper crowd of 169 warmly entertained.

Fans were still taking their seats when Racers skipper Stuart Herlihy opened the scoring in the third minute.

Stand-in keeper Neil Stacey could only palm a right-wing corner on to the head of the former Brakes midfielder who knew little about it as the ball rebounded off him and across the line.

Racers should have doubled their advantage four minutes later but Ed Kostiuk was unable to pick out strike partner James Travis with Stacey left isolated.

A fierce drive from Jack Dobson was then safely pouched by Stacey while at the other end Simeon Smith had two clear sights of goal within a minute.

However, after heading the first effort tamely off-target, he then hooked an even more presentable chance over the bar with the visiting defence in disarray.

The long grass was making passing a lottery, but after a rare piece of possession football from Racing Club, it needed a fine stop from the legs of Stacey to deny Nathan Edgington at the far post.

Smith was proving a real handful for the Racers backline and guided a header wide of the far post in the 24th minute before Saints were back on level terms two minutes later.

Martin Hutchcox laid the ball off to Lee Thomas, who worked his way to the corner of the box before unleashing a venomous shot which gave keeper Kevin Tobin no chance.

Four minutes later, Racing Club were back in front, Travis reacting quickest to poke home after a lucky ricochet in the box.

Southam responded with Thomas fizzing a shot over the bar and then drawing a fine save from Tobin with a left-foot strike.

A Smith flick-on provided another anxious moment for Tobin, but half-time arrived with Racing Club still holding the slenderest of advantages.

That disappeared 13 minutes into the second period, with James Hardie stooping to head home Hutchcox’s cross to the far post.

With the wind increasing, Racing Club were finding it difficult to get out of their half and Thomas was unfortunate to see his drive flash past the post after Kostiuk was caught in possession.

The conditions had a part to play in the 68th-minute winner, too, with Herlihy misjudging a high bouncing ball and allowing Smith to nip in and round the keeper for Saints’ third.

The striker was almost in for a carbon copy six minutes later, but after latching on to a poor back-header he had his heels clipped by Paul Wilkinson, who was lucky to escape with a yellow card.

Little had been seen of Racing Club as an attacking force after the break, but they almost snatched a lifeline as Saints struggled to clear their lines in the final minute. However, with time and space to pick his spot from the edge of the box, Edgington panicked and blasted his shot well over the bar.