A rare Jeff Kenna goal midway through the second half was enough to give Blues an excellent victory against his former club at St. Andrew's today.

Steve Bruce made just two changes to Wednesday night's starting line-up with Bryan Hughes and Olivier Tebily replacing the suspended Robbie Savage and Darren Carter.

It was the Saints who started brightest and it took them just three minutes to create the first chance of the game.

Anders Svensson's fine ball from the left wing found striker James Beattie free in the box, but the Saints' number nine headed over Maik Taylor's bar from just eight yards out.

But then as has been the case far too often recently, Blues were once again undone by a corner with five minutes of the game gone.

The Blues defence failed to clear Jason Dodd's corner and Rory Delap was allowed to fire in a powerful low drive, which Maik Taylor pushed away brilliantly, but not far enough and Brett Ormerod was on hand to shoot through a crowded penalty box to make it 1-0 to the visitors.   

Stung by the opener Blues then had two opportunities to bring the match level.
The first chance fell to Damien Johnson, who chipped just over from eight yards and then Clinton Morrison got behind the Saints defence, but Stephen Clemence just failed to connect with the ball in front of an open goal.

Then with 16 minutes gone the St Andrew's faithful into raptures when Stephen Clemence's powerful header from Bryan Hughes corner was deflected into his own net by Saints defender Fitz Hall to make it 1-1.

Heartened by the goal Blues were beginning to play some fine flowing football and Bryan Hughes nearly scored Blues' second goal with an exquisite chip from 25 yards out after he spotted Saints keeper Antti Niemi just off his line, but the ball failed to drop in time and landed on the roof of the net.

Despite their positive forward play Blues were looking distinctly unsettled in defence and on 31 minutes James Beattie broke through but his powerful shot from just inside the penalty area was well-held by Maik Taylor.

Good play from the Saints then saw the ball fired into the Blues box, but just as Beattie looked to connect, Kenny Cunningham was on hand to head over from three yards.

The Saints continued to press and Darren Purse was forced to head the ball out for a second corner in the space of a minute.

A superb piece of skill from the impressive David Dunn saw him beat three Saints players as he sought to find Bryan Hughes, but he took just one touch too many and the Saints defence were able to clear.

As the half time break approached Clinton Morrison had a peach of a shot from the edge of the box, which Niemi did brilliantly to push over.

Blues then almost scored from the resultant corner, but the Saints defence somehow managed to scramble the ball away.

With two minutes of extra time added Blues put in a barnstorming finish to the first period, but they were unable to convert their superior play into a second goal.

Half-time: Blues 1 Saints 1

The second half began as the first had started with both teams getting forward at every opportunity but at this stage neither were creating any meaningful opportunities.

It took until 61st minute until the first chance fell to Blues. Dunn was brought down 25 yards out.

From the resultant free kick he struck the ball magnificently towards the top corner, but Niemi was equal to the shot and tipped over what would have been a certain goal.

A superb move started and finished by former Saints player Jeff Kenna saw Blues take the lead on 67th minute.

Kenna found Morrison on the left on the box and the Blues striker jinked past his marker, before firing a low ball across the six-yard box for Kenna to fire home.

Less than a minute later the Saints were reduced to ten men after David Prutton elbowed Kenna in the head and referee Steve Bennett had no hesitation in sending the Saints midfielder down the tunnel for an early bath.

Kenna was forced to leave the pitch for several minutes of treatment.

Mikael Forssell almost made it 3-1 to Blues on 72 minutes when he unleashed a stinging shot from 25 yards which went inches wide of Niemi's left hand post.

Steve Bruce's team had a glorious chance to put the game beyond reach in the 78th minute when a brilliant run and cross by David Dunn found Damien Johnson just eight yards out, but the midfielder was unable to keep his shot down and the ball flew into the stand.

Despite being down to ten men Gordon Strachan's team were not down and out and were continuing to cause problems for the Blues defence and Anders Svensson let rip with a fierce drive, which just eluded Maik Taylor's post.

As full time approached Kenna was the hero again when he headed over his own bar as Kevin Phillips bore down on the Blues goal.

The Blues fans hearts were in the mouths a minute into injury time when the visitors were awarded a free kick some 25 yards out, but fortunately Beattie's low shot went just wide and despite a last gasp effort in the closing stages, Blues held on for a well-deserved and valuable victory.

Full-time: Blues 2 Southampton 1

Photography by Roy Smiljanic