Goals from Stern John and Jason Euell lifted Southampton out of the drop zone with a 2-0 win over table-topping Bristol City.Saints' top scorer John struck with his 17th goal of the season and Euell grabbed the killer second late on to lift some of the gloom at St Mary's.
A game which summed up the topsy-turvy nature of the Championship this season saw the team with only one win from their previous 14 outings comprehensively outplay a side looking to take a huge stride towards the Premier League.
Instead, City's closest rivals now have a game in hand with which to edge in front of them in the race for promotion.
By contrast Southampton were in dire need of a boost at the other end of the table.
They dropped into the bottom three earlier in a week which also saw some depressing financial results announced and hastened the likely return of controversial former chairman Rupert Lowe.
And just when Saints fans thought things could not get much worse, their afternoon started badly when fierce south-coast rivals Portsmouth reached the FA Cup final.
But Nigel Pearson's side were quickly into their stride and John fluffed two early chances.
A mistake by Jamie McAllister let in Saints winger Mario Licka, whose cross was headed wide by John when he should have at least hit the target.
John was then guilty of a truly shocking miss in the 11th minute, having got in between City's centre-halves to meet Gregory Vignal's cross.
The Trinidad & Tobago frontman looked to have done all the hard work when he superbly brought the ball down on his chest in front of goal, but he miskicked his shot and the ball rolled meekly wide.
Inigo Idiakez then came agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock but his far-post header, from Jermaine Wright's cross, also flew the wrong side of the upright.
But the breakthrough finally came in the 35th minute when Bradley Wright-Phillips headed across goal from where John was on hand to rifle the ball into the roof of the net.
Robins boss Gary Johnson threw on Steve Brooker and Ivan Sproule at the break, but Saints almost doubled their advantage when Wright-Phillips charged down the right and pulled the ball back to Licka, who forced a fine save from Adriano Basso.
The hosts were then denied what looked a clear penalty when Bradley Orr appeared to punch Licka's cross clear with Vincent Pericard lurking.
City were also appealing for a spot-kick when Michael McIndoe's shot was blocked by Chris Lucketti but again referee Stuart Attwell was not interested.
Wright-Phillips twice came close to finding the net, first being thwarted by another Basso save, before shooting inches wide.
But Saints were not to be denied and six minutes from time, after Basso kept out Wright-Phillips' point-blank header, Euell toe-poked the ball over the line to secure a much-needed win.
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