A thirty four year wait for silverware has made Sunday’s Wembley cup triumph for Southampton Football Club and its fans, a sweet tasting moment of pure ecstasy. Following recent years of decline and tumultuous boardroom upheaval seeing the red and whites go from gracing the English Premier League to scrawling in League One, a crushing 4-1 victory over Cumbria outfit Carlisle in the Johnstones Paint Trophy Final on the hallowed Wembley turf offered a sincere throwback to the club’s last and only cup success, that of the infamous 1-0 win over Manchester United in the 1976 FA Cup Final.

Banners, a conjecture of decorated scarves, flags and 44,000 south-coast fans made the trip to the capital to support Saint’s Manager Alan Pardew and his youthful troops in a game which eventually saw the club’s supporters riding high on a crest of triumphant wave. It was only last year, the club were on the brink of financial collapse signalling the end for the St Marys outfit, but a last ditch purchase of the club from incumbent Owner Markus Liebherr saw them climb out of treacherous waters and his investment, seems to be paying dividends with an instant return for the millions he has parted with.

The Johnstone’s Paint Trophy may not be a household name in terms of English Silverware to win, with the competition only being open to League One and Two sides respectively but it is as good excuse as any for Southampton followers to once again be positive about their club’s fortunes.

After much champagne uncorking, Saint’s players paid homage to the fanatical support they received from their red and white fans, whom finally have something to clip in the scrapbook following years of perennial relegation struggles and the agony of a 2003 FA Cup Final defeat.

It remains to be seen whether Sunday’s big day out can act as a spur for Saint’s to push on and make a late surge for a play-off berth, but what is sure is that a glass or two will be raised in the coming years to the Class of 2010 whom finally gave good reason for the St Marys Trophy room to undergo a deserved facelift.