Saints progressed to the Area Semi Finals of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy with a 2-1 win over Charlton.

A first goal for Wayne Thomas in Saints colours was added to by Rickie Lambert's 13th goal of the campaign, but the visitors pulled a late goal back to reduce the arrears in front of the largest attendance of the round at St. Mary's.

Saints: Bialkowski, James, Jaidi, Thomas, Harding, Antonio (Mellis 81), Hammond (c), Schneiderlin (Trotman 46), Lallana, Lambert, Connolly (Papa Waigo 57). Subs: Davis, Mills.

Charlton: Ikeme, Youga, Basey, Dailly (c), Llera, Sam (Holden 55), Spring, Semedo (Burton 66), Wagstaff (McKenzie 67), Shelvey, Mooney. Subs: Randolph, Omozusi.

Referee: Mr. P. Taylor

Attendance: 13, 906 (including 655 away)

A minute's silence to mark Armistice day was impeccably observed prior to kick-off, with Saints getting things underway kicking towards a packed Northam End against a Charlton side kitted out in a changed strip of all blue.

The relatively calm conditions worsened shortly after the match began as the rain swirled around inside St. Mary's.

Michail Antonio's early endeavour on the right earned Alan Pardew's side a corner which resulted in the first chance of the game inside the opening two minutes. Dean Hammond, the team's captain on the night in Davis' absence headed down Lloyd James' set-piece but saw his effort bounce up off the turf and out of play for a goal kick.

In the next attack, Hammond drove a half volley over the bar as Saints maintained their good start to the game.

In the 11th minute another move on the right hand side saw Lallana meet a swirling cross from Connolly, but the ball in was just too high for the youngster as he couldn't force his header on target.

A melee in the box shortly afterwards saw a number of shots blocked by the Addicks' defence as the visitors held firm.

Charlton's first shot of the game arrived in the 21st minute as Scott Wagstaff benefited from a knock down on the edge of the area before firing a low shot which Bialkowski got down quickly to cover.

Saints broke the deadlock on 33 minutes with Thomas' first strike for the club. It came after a sustained period of pressure which saw Connolly's shot was deflected wide out for a corner on the left hand side. Lloyd James' pinpoint delivery was smashed in by Wayne Thomas from close range high into the centre of the net, giving 'keeper Carl Ikeme no chance.

Irish forward Connolly tried his luck from distance a minute later with a curling effort, which narrowly escaped the far post.

The hosts were unfortunate not to have doubled their advantage just inside the last ten minutes of the half. Antonio was denied by a combination of Ikeme and the woodwork as his thunderous low drive somehow stayed out. From the rebound, Lallana almost picked out Connolly, but the striker appeared to be pulled down inside the area, however no penalty was awarded by referee Paul Taylor.

Antonio's exuberance saw him come off worst in a clash of heads with defender Miguel Llera which the on loan Reading winger had to receive treatment for, but he was deemed OK to continue by Saints' medical staff as the end of a rather one sided first half came to a close.

Half Time: Saints 1-0 Charlton Athletic

A knock picked up by Morgan Schneiderlin in the opening 45 minutes saw Neal Trotman come on at the re-start. The defender slotted in alongside Radhi Jaidi in the middle as the goalscorer Thomas moved to right back, meaning Lloyd James could move into a central midfield role.

The rain steadily continued to fall but it didn't affect the flow of the game. Lambert got on the end of Antonio's low cross but the Saints top scorer's goalbound shot bounced up off Llera and dropped into Ikeme's arms amidst shouts for a handball by the Addicks defender.

Matthew Spring drilled a shot across Bialkowski's goal shortly after Papa Waigo had been introduced for David Connolly from the bench.

Waigo then found himself with a sight of goal on the edge of the area, but his well struck shot was pushed away by Ikeme out for a corner.
The resulting set piece saw Lallana hammer in a shot towards goal which was deflected out for another corner.

Bialkowski was called into action to deny Mooney at his near post, but that was as close as it got for the visitors before Saints struck again.

Neat play on the left saw Harding and Lallana link up before the latter supplied Lambert on the edge of the area with a short ball. The striker took the ball in his stride and unleashed a strong shot which the 'keeper got a hand to but the ball ended up in the back of the net for 2-0.

Former Saint Christian Dailly turned sinner as he was retrospectively cautioned on 70 minutes after somewhat bizarrely holding Lambert back as the two made their way towards the Addicks' area.

Five minutes later substitute Deon Burton sliced a low cross wide of the mark after capitalizing on a slip by Trotman who was still getting up to speed with increasingly treacherous surface.

Jacob Mellis replaced Antonio who had worked tirelessly on the night and earned a large ovation from the crowd.

The hosts soaked up much of the late pressure as Luke Holden shot wide inside the final part of the game but whilst Bialkowski was relatively untroubled between the sticks, the visitors found a goal out of nowhere. Holden supplied a swirling cross which McKenzie slid in to get a touch on as the ball squirmed in to reduce the deficit.

As a result, Saints fans had a slightly nervy wait for the final whistle as Alan Pardew's side progressed in the competition at the expense of his former club.

Full Time: Saints 2-1 Charlton Athletic