Saints win south coast derby after Eckert's suspended 'Spygate' ban / Photo: Ben STANSALL - AFP/File
Saints win south coast derby after Eckert's suspended 'Spygate' ban
Ten-man Southampton capped a dramatic week in the club's history with a 1-0 win at home to Portsmouth in a south coast derby on Sunday.
There has been fears among home fans that Southampton manager Tonda Eckert would miss the match as a result of his role in last season's "Spygate" scandal.
That saw the Saints kicked out of last season's Championship play-offs and docked four points in the current campaign for breaching Football League rules after being caught snooping on semi-final opponents Middlesbrough and two other teams.
But 33-year-old German boss Eckert kept his job at St Mary's despite Southampton missing out on the chance of promotion to the Premier League and on Wednesday he escaped major disciplinary punishment after the Football Association announced a suspended ban.
Eckert was fined £28,000 ($37,000) and given a reprimand but avoided a lengthy suspension and was left free to continue in his role at Southampton.
Neither Saints nor Pompey had won a south coast derby in the league since 2005 but James Bree fired the hosts ahead in the 20th minute following a fine pass from Finn Azaz.
Southampton, however, had to play more than half the match a man down after homegrown midfielder Cameron Bragg was sent off shortly before the interval following two bookable offences.
John Mousinho's men made life uncomfortable but were undone by a lack of quality in the final third of the pitch as Saints held on for victory.
R.Tedeschi--GdR
