Eckert pleased with first-half firepower
Tonda Eckert was pleased to see his Southampton side show their ruthlessness in front of goal after racing into a 3-0 half-time lead at Doncaster.
Saints secured their place in the Emirates FA Cup fourth round largely thanks to the first 45 minutes in South Yorkshire, where strikes from Cameron Archer and Kuryu Matsuki followed Cameron Bragg’s early opener – the first goal of the Academy graduate’s senior career.
But the League One strugglers were transformed after the interval, reducing the deficit to 3-2 by the hour mark, forcing Saints to fight hard to preserve their advantage through to full time.
“In the end you can have as much possession as you want to, you need to put the ball in the back of the net,” Eckert reflected.
“I think in many games we do have a very good first half – I think we have the chance in many, many games to be 1-0 up, 2-0 up, sometimes even 3-0 up. We just need to make sure that we convert, so I’m very happy with that side.
“It’s a special competition, especially this year for us it’s a very big competition with the story of looking back 50 years [since Saints won the FA Cup in 1976]. The most important thing is that we’re in the next round.”
Eckert made a double substitution soon after Doncaster’s second goal, which did help give his team control, but the head coach admitted the way Saints started the second period caused their own problems.
“I think after the substitutions we looked a lot more solid, but at the same time we have to make sure this doesn’t happen to us,” he added.
“There was one thing only that we talked about half time, that we come out strong, and how important the first five minutes are.
“We just needed to make sure we found a good start into the game, but in the end the most important thing is that we’re into the next round.”
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