|Prutts was MC in the studio abetted by Gareth (currently unemployed) Ainsworth and Nathan (played for both) Dyer. Messrs Taphouse and Goodman were commentators and pundits, respectively. They informed us it was Flynn Downes’ 24th birthday.

Swansea, in all white (with some grey nonsense on the shoulders), were kicking right to left but were soon trailing in KWP’s wake as he slalomed past several of them before hitting a rotten cross behind the goal.

The game settled into a pattern of us passing the ball and Swansea running after it. Our first chance arrived at 3m when Ché attempted to volley Maning’s cross sliced past the post. The next attack saw Stu flagged offside, but the Scot, assisted by Ché, drew the first save of many from Rushton.

Saints early dominance (90% possession) was soon rewarded, though, as our next foray forward saw Adams turn a forward pass wide for Stu. He went past one defender and then cut back past another before hitting a firm shot on target. Rushton made a good block but could not hold it. Ché, who had kept moving, was on hand to smash in the rebound. 1-0 and well deserved.

The game continued in the same manner. Both sides wanted to keep the ball, but only one did, and the Home side was obliged to chase the ball as Saints pinged it back and forth. Not everything worked as Ché ran onto an incisive pass from Fraser, but the ball bounced off his heel and was cleared. Then Adam set up the Wee Man, but the dutiful Swansea defence saw his effort blocked.

When Wood fouled Adams, Saints were able to find him from the free kick, and his pass allowed AA to draw another decent save from Rushton. At 11m, both AA and Fraser were foiled by the hard-working keeper. Swansea had some spells of possession, but our defence was quickly on their case. e.g. when KWP ensured Tymon was unable to cross from their left.

At 16m, Fraser collected a pass from Stu and drew another sprawling save from the keeper. There was steel alongside Saint's silky moves, as Paterson found as he attempted to drive past THB and was unceremoniously upended, earning our man a yellow card. The Home side showed they could also pass and move, but we rarely allowed them to build much momentum.

On 20m Saints scored a sublime team goal. The ball was pinged up and down our left flank, where Stu and Ryan worked the ball down the wing. The Wee Man then played the ball inside for Stu to drive across, where Will arrived to stroke it home from close range. 2-0, and the camera showed the horror on the Swansea manager’s face.

This put us on track to beat the old Div 3 South record set early in our Football League career. Taphouse then mentioned that during the Saints’ dominance of the old Southern League, when Victoria was Queen, Saints had gone 24 games unbeaten. So that is our next target.

Swansea then got forward to get back into the game but were becoming frustrated. When Ché carried the ball out from the back and glided past Tymon, the Swansea man brought him down. No card was shown, as the Ref probably felt sorry for the Swans.

On 25m, Adam set up Ryan, but again, a white-clad body stopped his shot. Soon after, Tymon conceded a corner, but nothing came of that. On 27m, the Swans finally saw the whites of Baz’s posts, but Tymon stuck it over the bar, running onto Cullen’s crossfield pass.

At the other end, KWP’s first shot of the afternoon was blocked, but his next foray earned us a corner off Humphries. Manning worked the ball to Stu, whose goal-bound effort was held by Rushton. The keeper was almost caught in possession by Fraser before Saints next attack saw him penalised for handball as he tried to control Adam’s forward pass.

Both Armstrongs were next up to try their luck. First, Adam had his effort blocked before Stu drew another save after an intelligent header by Downes. Then Che had his effort blocked before we won a pair of unproductive corners. The second of these was the launch pad for Swans to break forward.

Ashby carried the ball forward with players bearing down on our goal. He launched an early ball, which arrived as Lowe and Baz competed, then collided, but the ball carried on to Cullen. With Lowe floored and Baz trying to return to his line, Cullen deftly found Patterson between the sticks, who headed home. 1-2 and, somewhat surprisingly, Game On!

In the Prem, VAR would have had a wonderful time picking the bones out of this. Did Baz foul Lowe? Was Lowe offside, or did he play the ball with his arm? Who cares? This is the EFL - get on with it!

After a brief delay as Lowe was reset, the game continued, and Saints replied in the perfect fashion. Another super left-wing attack involving Fraser and Stu (who was probably offside when he received the ball). The Scot laid the ball back to Flynn Downes, and the Birthday Boy fired past the keeper’s dive. 1- 3 and Game Less On!

In +5m, Fulton was carded for a crude foul on KWP, which signalled the trading of lesser fouls by both sides. The only penalty box action saw Manning collect a pass from Stu and fire over. At half time, Saints were worth their 1-3 lead - and some!

Neither side made personnel changes, but words had been said in the home dressing room as Swansea were now standing about 15 metres further forward than before. Whatever advice Luke gave them worked, as this half was a different affair. Saints now had a match on their hands.

Swansea, through Paterson, had the first shot of the half, but it went wide. Saints seemed happy to counterattack, and Ché had an effort stopped by Rushton before a Manning effort was blocked by Wood. Nothing came from the resulting corner.

On 56m, Will sent AA down the right, and Humphries headed his cross out. This corner was better, and Bedders set up a shot for KWP, which cannoned off Darling for another corner, which Swansea cleared.

On 59m, Russ sent on Jack to replace THB, presumably because of his earlier yellow card. From that point on, our defensive assuredness began to wane. Stu regularly got crosses over, but the primary beneficiaries were Swansea heads or keeper’s gloves.

Just beyond 60m, Jamal Lowe went down again, but he could not continue this time. Williams used the break to make a triple substitution, with Cullen and Ashby joining Lowe on the bench to be replaced by Yates, Patino, and Bolasie.

There was no immediate impact, and Saints continued to attack, Adams's pass finding AA just offside. Yates had replaced Lowe up top, and he was caught offside the first time he got involved. On 68m, Adam found Fraser, but his shot was wild and way over the bar.

Swansea’s subs gradually began to have an impact, and Patino collected a pass from Tymon, which he drilled past the post. Up at the other end, VAR could have given Ché a penalty when he was tripped in their box but not seen by the officials. All we got was another corner, which was cleared.

At the next break in play, Fulton was replaced by Joe Allen while Russ sent on Mara for Che and gave Joe Rothwell his Saints debut, on for Stu Armstrong. Bedders’ foul on Patino gave them a free kick from the left, which Grimes took. Darling headed it on, but Saints won the ball back, and Fraser was crudely hacked by the retreating Darling, who was shown a yellow card.

Swansea had not given hope of salvaging a point and began throwing men forward at every opportunity. Paterson’s cross-shot from the left flew just wide of the back post, but Jack gave the ball away from the goal kick. Yates had to score but hit the post, allowing Jack to hack it clear. Phew!!!

With both sides having a real go, the play deteriorated into a series of niggly fouls by both teams. Swansea were still attacking, though, and next was Paterson shooting on target, but Baz got a hand out to turn it onto the post and out. Swansea recycled the ball quickly, and Baz had to save down by his left post to keep out Humphries.

Having barely done any defending in the first half, our team were now scrapping to protect the lead as Swansea threw the kitchen sink at them. In the space of under a minute, they had three decent chances. First, Yates and then Allen had shots blocked by the grey wall before Bolasie got on the end of Patterson’s cross, forcing Baz to tip it out for a corner.

The keeper was down, and the medics arrived to whistles from the Home support, who suspected lead-swinging by the Irish stopper. During the delay, Shea Charles came on for Will. Swansea worked a short corner, but our guys came steaming out and caught most of their team offside.

Undeterred, they won another corner off Jan in the 90th minute. This time, Patino found Grimes, whose shot flew past the post. The 4th Official signaled +7m to play.

In added time, Bolasie played like a man possessed. First, he sent over a left-wing cross that Baz was happy to claim over the Sawnsea heads. Then he cut inside and fired just past the post, and then, when he thought he was in on goal, the lino stuck up his flag. In the time between these efforts, Don Goodman made Will Smallbone the Sky MOTM.

On 96m, Shea Charles took out Patino near the edge of the box. Charles was booked, and Saints set up their defensive wall. Pattison beat the wall but not Baz, who helped it over the bar. As Pattison’s corner came over, there was a nasty clash of heads between Jan and Darling, which sent both medical teams scurrying onto the park.

Darling was down the longest, but both players were checked for concussion before the game could continue. Not long after the restart, the Ref blew for time, and Saints had broken their Football League Unbeaten Record.

We were superb in the first half, and three goals hardly flattered that performance. After the break, Swansea gave glimpses of the side they can become, and our side dug in to retain their lead. Well done to both teams, and well done to both clubs. That was exciting!

MAN OF THE MATCH

|The problem with reporting on the current Saints team is choosing a MOTM. Last season, it was often a matter of picking the least lousy performance, but when a team is purring from win to win like Russ’ men are, you have too many candidates.

Sky does 15m highlights of every Championship game (usually in the wee small hours), and I always record Saints, even when I’ve watched the live game. Watching this showed how one player played a vital role in all three goals, and that man was Stuart Armstrong.

Stu is often the unsung hero of our club, but he is having a great season, and his solid performances have made him undroppable. At Swansea, his fingerprints were all over much of our better-attacking efforts, so he is (just) my Man of the Match.