Snapshot: Cardiff City's unbeaten away record fizzled out in a disappointing afternoon at St. Mary's on Sunday afternoon. The match was decided by a single first half goal for Stern John - the strike one of Southampton's few attempts over the ninety minutes, though they deserve credit for taking the chance even with the assistance of a defensive error to allow the established forward a route on goal.

Cardiff held the lion's share of possession, but were unable to turn their authority into goals. A first minute penalty claim for Robbie may have been waved away, but the City players will know that the Saints 'keeper and makeshift back four should have been made to work harder.

The win has propelled Southampton into ninth place - a prize that was on offer for both teams ahead of kick-off. City meanwhile have dropped a spot to fifteenth and will have to get straight to work in order to bolster their attacking prowess for the visit of Wolves on Wednesday. We will welcome the Molineux fans to Ninian Park following their team's impressive two nil victory over Charlton.

Team News: Only one change to the starting eleven came as Stephen McPhail returned following the bug that had ruled him out of the Burnley fixture at the last minute. Macca's return meant that Peter Whittingham returned to the bench, while the rest of the starting eleven continued to hold their place.

The City squad was bolstered by the return of Trevor Sinclair and Stephen MacLean; the influential winger and striker taking up spots on the Cardiff bench. Skipper Darren Purse also resumed a substitute berth after coming on to replace Glenn Loovens when the Dutchman was injured in the first half versus Burnley.

Cardiff: Oakes, McNaughton, Loovens, Johnson, Capaldi, Parry, Rae, McPhail, Ledley, Hasselbaink, Fowler. Subs: Sinclair, Whittingham, Purse, MacLean, Forde.

Wayne Thomas, Darren Powell and Chris Makin were all sidelined for the Saints, while Alan Bennett was handed a first start since the second game of the season. Bennett partnered loan signing Christian Dailly on his final day at St. Mary's, while Alexander Ostlund was drafted in at left-back. Rudi Skacel dropped to the bench. There was no substitute keeper for Saints who named an attacking bench with Grzegorz Rasiak and Bradley Wright-Phillips both fit again but losing out to Stern John and Marek Saganowski.

Saints: Davis, Ifil, Bennett, Dailly, Ostlund, Viafara, Safri, Idiakez, Dyer, John, Saganowski. Subs: Rasiak, Wright-Phillips, Euell, Hammill, Skacel.

Chronological Report: City came out of the blocks quickly from kick-off, winning a corner inside the opening sixty seconds via the industry of Paul Parry on the right wing. An early penalty shout came as Fowler looked to have been pulled down in the area by Ostlund, but the referee ignored the claim and allowed play to resume.Ostlund then became an early Saints casualty after only seven minutes, leaving the field after looking to struggle for a few minutes with a hamstring injury. In his place came Rudi Skacel.

Cardiff certainly had the lion's share of possession in the opening ten minutes, and came close through a marginally offside Fowler in the tenth minute - Fowler set into play by a neat cross from Hasselbaink, though the Saints back line did well to force the striker into an offside position before sending his rasping shot over the bar.

Southampton weren't looking too much of a threat, but turned the early form on its head with their first attacking move of the match. In a move that came from nothing Idiakez flicked on a beautiful ball from just outside the area, allowing Stern John a run at goal that Cardiff failed to cope with defensively. John despatched a sweet shot as Capaldi and Johnson were surging forward, sending the ball into the back of the net to give Saints the lead against the run of play.

GOAL: SOUTHAMPTON 1 - 0 CARDIFF. John. 15 mins

The match was effectively evenly matched between the two teams, though Cardiff still were creating and missing more opportunities than their hosts. City came close as a clever Hasselbaink header back into the area that was missed by his colleagues in the six yard box, while a Capaldi won free-kick caused problems and caused the Saints defence to produce the goods to clear.

Despite having less of the ball, Southampton again came closest to finding the back of the net as the half hour point approached. First Viafara sent a pinpoint ball over the top to find Iziakez, who built some space in between the Cardiff back two before chesting the ball and losing his balance.Two minutes later Idiakez was then denied what would have been a dangerous cross on the left hand side of the area by Roger Johnson who did very well to track back from an attacking position to deny the prolific Saint.

Southampton were clearly dangerous going forward via the likes of Dyer, Stern John and Idiakez, while at the back their defending was a little panicked with a few pinball clearances. Their lead however looked assured going into the break as their confidence and time on the ball grew.

With a minute of time remaining the combination of Fowler and Hasselbaink showed promise as a neat one-two between them sent Jimmy through to fire a shot wide of the right post. The miss was enough for Southampton, who then used the ball to kill time to ensure their lead was protected going into the interval.

HALF TIME: SOUTHAMPTON 1 - 0 CARDIFF

No changes were made as Southampton kicked-off to get us underway for a second forty five. City again won a corner inside the opening sixty seconds as Fowler capitalised on a back pass from Bennett, and as per the first half Southampton cleared.

Cardiff continued to own the opening five minutes and some impressive passing saw the ball set to Jimmy. He then used his strength to hold off two markers before turning and stinging the palms of the Saints 'keeper with a well hit shot. A minute later Hasselbaink turned provider with a deft header down to Fowler who should have done better as he sent a shot wide from the corner of the area.

Chances continued to go awry as six minutes in Joe Ledley sent in a dangerous corner that rebounded up to Fowler just in front of goal. The speed of the ball was however too much for Fowler to react to properly as his quick header couldn't find the back of the net.

The first booking of the match came after fifty three minutes as Hasselbaink's rash challenge on Nathan Dyer just after Paul Parry had collided with enough speed to require attention. On the sidelines to come on appeared Trevor Sinclair, but his introduction came at the expense of Joe Ledley. The change appeared tactical and probably also had a bearing on Joe's International experience for Wales last week.

The half ticked on frustratingly as Cardiff seemed to do all of the right things except cause any real concerns for the all but makeshift Saints back four. Two shots came in quick succession for McPhail after the hour mark, but summing up our match were weak efforts after some pleasing build up play. Bradley Wright-Phillips was then introduced to add legs to Saints forward line after sixty five minutes, replacing Marek Saganowski.

An opportunity came Cardiff's way in the shape of a free-kick after seventy minutes as Youssef Safri had fouled Stephen McPhail. McPhail set the ball to Hasselbaink who looked to fire the ball into the net, but the speed of Wright-Phillips in charging out did enough to distract the City striker who in turn set the ball into row Z.

As per the first half it was effectively all Cardiff, while Southampton looked dangerous on the break. It was a plus for us to see Idiakez leave the field after some impressive play for our hosts - his leaving the field after seventy three minutes giving Jason Euell another chance from the bench.

Dave Jones responded with a surprise change, taking off Paul Parry for Peter Whittingham after the Welsh winger had looked one of our most impressive talents going forward. City continued to fire forward with more of a sense of desperation than purpose as we entered the final ten minutes. Gavin Rae was offered a chance to restore parity after picking up a Saints clearance after Glenn Loovens of all people had worked his way into the opposition box, but on song with the afternoon sent the ball painfully wide.

The final roll of the dice came as Jones restored MacLean's Bluebirds status, taking off Kevin McNaughton to set up a three prong attack. MacLean's introduction came in the form of him hitting the referee's notebook before the ball as his protest following a Saints free-kick were enough to offend the official.

Cardiff were holding a high line and were naturally susceptible to breaks in their quest to clutch a point. That occurred with two minutes of regulation time on the clock as Jason Euell missed two massive chances in front of goal to keep the Saints nerves high, while only two minutes later a City break presented Peter Whittingham with a similar opportunity as Trevor Sinclair set the ball to his feet inside the box.

Both Euell's over the bar flyer and Whittingham's snatched effort going wide summed up the afternoon, although the Saints were naturally more accepting of their lack of bite due to holding on to the lead.

Four minutes of added time were raised to add to the home supporters nerves, and into the fourth minute saw a last ditch effort for Fowler inside the Saints box - his shot denied by the diving bodies of the Southampton backline.

The denial was enough to see the match out to our hosts delight, the three points ending our unbeaten away record for the season. Next up comes a tough home test against another of Dave's former employers. As stand up hosts we'll be welcoming the Wolves supporters to Cardiff on Wednesday night for a chance to rectify what was a disappointing afternoon.

FULL TIME: SOUTHAMPTON 1 - 0 CARDIFF

Southampton: Davis, Ostlund (Skacel 7), Bennett, Ifil, Dailly, Dyer, Viafara, Safri, Idiakez (Euell 75), John, Saganowski (Wright-Phillips 66). Subs Not Used: Rasiak, Surman. Booked: Idiakez. Goals: John 15.

Cardiff: Oakes, McNaughton (MacLean 85), Loovens, Johnson, Capaldi, Ledley (Sinclair 56), Rae, McPhail, Parry (Whittingham 76), Fowler, Hasselbaink. Subs Not Used: Forde, Purse. Booked: Hasselbaink, MacLean.

Att: 20,796

Ref: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire)