{"id":445798,"date":"2026-05-13T00:01:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T00:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/445798\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T00:01:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T00:01:08","slug":"saints-march-on-to-wembley-as-spygate-drama-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/445798\/","title":{"rendered":"Saints march on to Wembley as ‘spygate’ drama continues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shea Charles struck a fortuitous extra-time winner as Southampton ensured the ‘spygate’ <\/a>scandal will rumble on by booking their place in the Championship play-off final with a dramatic 2-1 comeback victory over Middlesbrough.<\/p>\n

With a fiery contest edging towards a penalty shoot-out, Northern Ireland midfielder Charles found the net with an attempted cross in the 116th minute to set up a Wembley showdown with Hull on Saturday, 23 May.<\/p>\n

Boro arrived at St Mary\u2019s feeling aggrieved after accusing Saints of snooping on a training session ahead of Saturday\u2019s goalless first leg on Teesside.<\/p>\n

Riley McGree fired the visitors into an early lead but Ross Stewart headed Southampton level in first-half stoppage time to ultimately force an additional 30 minutes.<\/p>\n

On a tetchy evening, rival managers Kim Hellberg and Tonda Eckert had to be separated on the touchline in the first half following an apparent on-field complaint made by Middlesbrough defender Luke Ayling.<\/p>\n

\"SOUTHAMPTON,
\nRepublic of Ireland’s Ryan Manning impressed for the victors<\/p>\n

Southampton began a pivotal day in the season by asking for time to conduct an internal review into the circumstances of \u2018spygate\u2019 after being charged with breaching EFL regulations.<\/p>\n

With animosity in the air, Boro\u2019s bus was pelted with projectiles as it arrived at the stadium, while travelling fans unveiled a banner ahead of kick-off reading “20 game cheating run” in reference to Saints being unbeaten in the Championship since January.<\/p>\n

That statistic looked in jeopardy inside five minutes as Middlesbrough emulated their weekend display by flying out of the blocks.<\/p>\n

After being afforded time and space on the right wing, Boro full-back Callum Brittain delivered a low cross for midfielder McGree to spark pandemonium in the away end by sweeping a first-time finish into the bottom-left corner.<\/p>\n

Southampton should have levelled in the 12th minute but unmarked striker Stewart \u2013 recalled as part of three changes from the weekend \u2013 volleyed wide from six yards following Ryan Manning\u2019s cross.<\/p>\n

Stewart later wanted a penalty for a shirt tug by Brittain before tempers flared in the technical areas after referee Andrew Madley called together Hellberg and Eckert following a conversation with Ayling.<\/p>\n

Southampton set up a tantalising second period by equalising a minute into added time.<\/p>\n

After Leo Scienza was fouled by Brittain, Manning\u2019s volley from James Bree\u2019s free-kick into the 18-yard box was parried into the air by Boro goalkeeper Sol Brynn, allowing Stewart to rise highest and nod home.<\/p>\n

Southampton great Matt Le Tissier issued a rallying cry to home supporters during a half-time interview in which he accused Madley of attempting to be the centre of attention.<\/p>\n

\"A
\nA fan arrives at the stadium<\/p>\n

The match official dismissed penalty appeals at both ends \u2013 for a potential handball by Saints midfielder Kuryu Matsuki and then a possible foul by Ayling on Scienza \u2013 either side of Manning\u2019s deflected shot clipping the base of Boro\u2019s right post.<\/p>\n

With the tension increasing as the clock ticked towards the additional period, Boro midfielder Aidan Morris sparked another flashpoint in his attempt to retrieve the ball from a ball boy.<\/p>\n

Southampton substitute Cyle Larin was then denied a winner \u2013 and a possible penalty \u2013 in the closing stages of normal time.<\/p>\n

A tense and largely uneventful extra-time period looked set to end in stalemate until Charles\u2019 inswinging, left-footed cross from the right flew into the far corner to put Saints one win away from an instant Premier League return.<\/p>\n

As well as Manning, Ireland’s Finn Azaz started for Southampton and is now one game away from a Premier League return.<\/p>\n

Alan Browne came on for Boro in the 73rd minute with Alex Gilbert an unused substitute.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shea Charles struck a fortuitous extra-time winner as Southampton ensured the ‘spygate’ scandal will rumble on by booking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":445799,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-445798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=445798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/445799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}