This super-charged Division 2 fixture saw struggling Southampton host high-flying Everton at the revamped and packed St. Mary's Stadium. Miles Riley was last week confirmed at the new Saints boss, and has transformed the Southampton squad. Today's first eleven was alien to the one it might've been a few weeks ago, and they'd be looking for a good performance against Everton to prove they're worth their Division 2 status.

Aussie Jones has arguably been the best manager in PMF to date, and his Everton side are still red hot favourites to lift the Division 2 crown. They travelled to St. Mary's for this postponed game full of confidence, knowing a win would basically put them in an unassailable position at the top of the table. Jones picked his strongest available side for the match, including calling up Mark Viduka for his debut.

The match began in an electric atmosphere, Southampton showing surprising confidence in knocking the ball around with contempt. They were making the Everton midfield chase them down, and doing it well, Matt Le Tissier and Olivier Dacourt commanding them well from the middle of the field.

The Saints couldn't quite get their final pass going though, too often Michael Duberry or Alan Stubbs were cutting out the final balls, although one did get through for Marian Pahars to run onto. The little Latvian pulled the trigger, but his low shot was excellently blocked by Mark Bosnich in the 19th minute.

Everton looked content on attempting to hit on the break, and had their best chance when a ball was played up to Deisler. The German star sprinted down the right before crossing inside for Viduka, but the big Aussie was pressured in going for his header, the shot skimming the bar as the crowd breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, after this break, both sides began to rain shots at each other's goals. At one end, Bosnich had to do well to deny Pahars twice and a Tijjani Babangida shot, and at the other end Paul Jones pulled off an outstanding save to deny Tomasz Radzinski.

The game was thrown into some turmoil in the 39th minute when Viduka got goalside of the defence. He seemed offside, but the linesman kept his flag down, and coming into the box he was tripped by goalkeeper Jones. Jones looked sheepish as Manin Black pointed at the spot, and as his notebook came out The crowd was relieved to see only a yellow card being pulled out, as was Jones, and his luck wasn't to run out here - Deisler took the penalty, but the Welshman pulled out a great save, tipping it into the post.

Half time followed soon after, and Jones obviously had a few things to say, as Everton came out all guns blazing in the second half to go ahead after just 21 seconds. Martijn Reuser had the ball in midfield, and a tackle saw the ball break out to the left for Alan Mahon. He advanced down the left and sent in a low cross, and Viduka's boot was the first to meet it, the ball sizzling into the top of the net with a number of Southampton players just left watching.

The Saints were still a force to be reckoned with though, and continued to attack, much to the delight of their fans. Too often they could not finish off some fine passing moves though, Rory Delap a prime culprit when played one-on-one with Bosnich. The Irish star could only send his shot high and wide, much to the annoyance of the home fans.

The game began to move towards an inevitable conclusion, Southampton unable to break down a resilient Everton defence, which was boosted by the introduction of Stuart McCall for his first Everton game in over a decade. His first major impact on the game was a booking though, Jones' new assistant flying in late for a challenge on Kevin Davies.

Southampton were controlling the game more and more, and came close in the 83rd minute when a brilliant Babangida cross saw Davies get a half-volley goalwards, but Steve Watson was on the line to acrobatically block it. But not even he could stop the Saints equaliser though, and it came through their impressive Nigerian winger Babangida just a couple of minutes later, when he made a surging run down the right, played a neat one-two with Delap, before cutting inside and finishing with a drive high into the roof of the net.

There was not much time for either side to find a winner, and in the end the result stayed as 1-1. Of the two sides, Southampton will feel the more annoyed they had emerged with only a point, as for much of the game they had controlled it. Miles Riley will be very impressed with his side on his managerial debut, while for Jones, a point from a hostile environment is not as bad as it could have been, and his Toffees continue their regal march to the Division 2 title.

Southampton Squad: Paul Jones 9, Steve Finnan 7, Wayne Bridge 7, Olivier Dacourt 8, Dean Richards © 7, Gareth Barry 8, Tijjani Babangida 9, Matt Le Tissier 7, Marian Pahars 7, Matt Oakley 6 (Kevin Davies 7), Rory Delap 7.
Subs Not Used: Neil Moss, Paul Ritchie, Chris Marsden, Mark Draper.

Scorers: Babangida '85.
Injuries: None.
Bookings: Pahars, Oakley, Finnan, Jones.
Sendings Off: None.

Everton Squad: Mark Bosnich 8, Steve Watson 8, Michael Duberry 8, Alan Stubbs © 8, Martijn Reuser 7 (Marco Bresciano 6), Brett Emerton 7, Thomas Gravesen 7, Alan Mahon 7 (Stuart McCall 7), Sebastian Deisler 7, Mark Viduka 8, Tomasz Radzinski 7 (Alessandro Pistone 6).
Subs Not Used: Steve Simonsen, Kevin Campbell.

Scorers: Viduka '46; Deisler missed penalty '39.
Injuries: None.
Bookings: Duberry, McCall.
Sendings Off: None.

Match Stats
Shots On Target: Southampton 5-5 Everton
Shots Off Target: 7-6
Fouls Committed: 17-21
Corners: 3-5
Offsides: 4-2
Possession: 51%-49%
Attendance: 36,932 @ St. Mary's Stadium, Southampton
Referee: Manin Black (Bristol) - 7/10.