Still praises defiant Saints after winning start

Saints trailed newly-promoted Wrexham until the 90th minute, but Ryan Manning levelled the scores with a stunning 30-yard free-kick to bring St Mary’s to its feet.

With six added minutes signalled, Saints poured forward in search of victory, and captain Jack Stephens duly delivered, sliding in at the far post to win the game in the very last minute.

“Our colleagues from Sky Sports have just said ‘welcome to the Champ’ and I couldn’t put it any better than that,” Still reflected after the game.

“I don’t think anyone expected an easy game or a rollover. We knew it was going to be a shift and we were going to have to put it upon ourselves to go through that sort of pain barrier and keep going, and we did.”

Saints fell behind to a Josh Windass penalty midway through the first half after Ronnie Edwards pushed Kieffer Moore in the box.

“We conceded a frustrating goal,” Still continued. “We’ve shot ourselves in the foot by messing up a throw-in that high up the pitch and not dealing with the transition very well, and then we had a moment where we floated a bit, looking for our bearings.

“But we got back into it, created enough situations and enough opportunities in the first half to get back into it, didn’t quite come off, didn’t quite work, wasn’t quite the right timing of pass or timing of shot.

“Second half I thought we kept at it. It’s difficult playing against a low block like that, it’s difficult finding space, creating space, and ultimately it’s a set-piece for their goal and a set-piece from Rhino (Manning), which was pretty special, that allows us back in the game.

“The energy just lifts, everyone keeps pushing, and somehow Stevo (Stephens) ends up in the box in the 96th and the crowd get behind it, and we manage to force it across the line.

“It’s proof of character, a bit of grit and determination, which is a big thing going forward.”