C`EST LA VIE......

This ramble might have been called `What a Way to Spend Easter Monday` or even `Show me a Good Loser and I`ll Show you a Loser,` but in the end I decided to shrug my shoulders and put yesterday down as yet another cliche in the life of a Saints FC fan.

I made the long journey to Southampton to watch my `heroes` take on Sunderland in a game vital to each side; a win for Saints would see them go fifth in the table and cement their play-off aspirations, whereas a win for Sunderland would catapault them up to top spot. The journey was remarkably traffic-free, thanks perhaps to the bizarre kick-off time of 5.15pm, as the game was shown live on tv. If my journey home was a bit late, spare a thought for the Sunderland fans heading home to the north-east after a 600-mile round trip; God knows what time they got home.

However, they will be pleased with the result - a narrow 2-1 win which saw them come from behind after Saints had taken the lead from Polish striker Marek Saganowski, who has now netted nine times in nine matches. Two wonder strikes from Sunderland, however, sealed their victory in the dying minutes and left Saints fans reflecting on what might have been.

But if you give opponents time and space to get shots on target, then you`re going to get punished and Saints defenders will be disappointed that they didn`t close down quickly enough in the final third. Having gone ahead, Saints manager, George Burley, may have shown a little tactical naivite in not closing out the game by bringing Andrew Surman on to shore up the left side of midfield in place of the fading Djamel Belmadi.

Sometimes, though, you just have to hold your hands up and give credit where it`s due, so well done, Sunderland; as for Saints, we have to put this disappointment behind us, draw a line in the sand and move on to Birmingham next Saturday, when a win may against struggling Blues may hopefully reignite our play-off aspirations

At the end of the day though, that`s football and there`s still everything to play for.