On This Day – 19th May
I only have time to write the one article tonight due to a difficult evening with trying to put my daughter to bed!
Southampton played their last competitive match at The Dell on this day 19 years ago. They beat Arsenal 3-2 and the game had a real fairy-tale ending.
Ashley Cole opened the scoring for the visitors after 28 minutes, racing from the halfway line to bundle the ball past Paul Jones at the second attempt.
The hosts were level 31 seconds into the second half, courtesy of Moroccan international Hassan Kachloul.
Alex Manninger bowled the ball out to Gilles Grimandi who was playing at right back. The French defender tried to hit the ball down the touchline but his pass was charged down by Chris Marsden.
Kachloul pounced on the loose ball and placed the ball first-time over Manninger into the far corner of the net.
Arsenal scored a fantastic breakaway goal after 54 minutes to take the lead once more.
A Southampton corner was forced away and Thierry Henry ran forty yards with the ball. Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg and even Tony Adams tried to keep up with the Frenchman in the Arsenal attack!
Henry opted to play the ball to Ljungberg as the Swede ran into the Southampton penalty area. The Swede hit the ball first time past Paul Jones into the bottom corner.
Alex Manninger fumbled a routine catch from a chipped cross by Kevin Davies, leaving Hassan Kachloul with an easy tap-in from less than six yards.
There is an old saying: ‘Cometh the hour and cometh the man’ and this is rang true in this emotional farewell game.
With 17 minutes left of the match and indeed, competitive football at The Dell, Matthew Le Tissier came on as a substitute for Kevin Davies.
The clock ticked to 89 minutes when Paul Jones (Patron of this blog!) hit a long clearance downfield. The ball bounced off a couple of players before falling nicely for Le Tissier who was stood just inside the penalty area.
‘Le Tiss’ caught the ball perfectly on the half-volley and sent the ball crashing into the top corner of the net. Alex Manninger in the Arsenal goal stood no chance of getting near it and The Dell roared in delight for one last time.
A pitch invasion at the end ensued and a goal from a Southampton legend in the last moments to win the game was the perfect send off for the old ground.
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