Boss Alan Irvine was blazing as his side were torn to shreds in the first half by a Southampton outfit with only one win to their name on home turf this season.

An opening goal from Andrew Surnam after 20 minutes was followed by two more from Marek Saganowski to leave North End shell-shocked at the interval and their 785 travelling fans dumb-struck.

Irvine's side improved after the break and pulled one back through Ross Wallace after 73 minutes.

But it was too little too late to avoid an embarrassment against a club locked in a relegation battle and facing a crowd protest before the start of the match.

Amazingly it had been Preston who started the brighter. But once Surnam drove the Saints into the lead it was one-way traffic.

Saganowski doubled their advantage just before the half hour mark with a dipping shot which gave Andrew Lonergan no chance.

And three minutes before the interval the Polish striker netted his second and Southampton's third to send the home crowd into raptures.

There was no sign of what was to come as Preston opened in lively fashion at a sun-kissed St Mary's Stadium.

Ross Wallace was first to test Kelvin Davis with a curling effort from wide on the right, but the Saints' keeper flung himself across to claw the ball away as it headed for the far corner. Then Jon Parkin saw a shot blocked after a lay-off from strike partner Stephen Elliott.

But after an initial spell in control North End were forced back on their heels by a Southampton side desperate to claim only their second home win of the season.

Central defenders Andrew Davies - playing against the side he captained last season - and Sean St Ledger both hurled their bodies in the way of shots. And Saganowski sent a glancing header just wide of the far post from a right-wing cross.

The home side's pressure eventually paid off in the 20th minute when the Preston defence could only half clear a cross from the right, the ball fell kindly for Surman on the edge of the box and he finished crisply past Lonergan into the bottom right corner of the net.

Three minutes later the Saints could have been two-up when a left-wing cross found Euell 12 yards out, but Lonergan pulled off a great save diving to his right to palm the effort round the post at full stretch.

Moments after that Davies almost put the ball into his own net as he stretched to head a Simon Gillett cross inches over the crossbar.

Things got worse for North End just before the half hour mark when Saganowski was left in space on the edge of the box and had enough time to turn on a right wing cross and send a dipping shot beyond Lonergan's reach into the right corner of the net to make it 2-0.

In a rare Preston raid upfield worked himself into space on the right of goal and then dragged his shot disappointingly wide of the far post. Minutes later he had another half chance on the same side but this time his effort clipped a defender and rolled for a corner.

Lonergan had to get down smartly to smother a first time effort from David McGoldrick.

But the save only delayed Southampton's third goal on 42 minutes and by now the North End defence was in tatters.

Sedgwick tried too much fancy footwork in the opposition half and was dispossessed, the ball was played up for Saganowski and he took it on unchallenged before beating Lonergan.

Irvine stormed from the dugout and down the tunnel as the half-time whistle sounded.

And when the teams came back out North End were minus three players - Davies, Sedgwick and Nicholson replaced by Youl Mawene, Chris Brown and Richard Chaplow in a desperate triple substitution.

For the first 25 minutes of the second half both sides created very little. But in the 73rd minute Lonergan was called on to produce a superb one-handed save to keep out a header from Lallana.

From the resulting corner North End raced downfield and pulled a goal back with their first effort on target of the match.

Billy Jones was hurt sliding in bravely for a tackle on the edge of the Saints' box, the ball rolled to Wallace and the winger curled a left-footed beauty beyond the reach of keeper Davis into the far left-hand corner.

With 11 minutes left on the clock Parkin went close to reducing the arrears even further when he turned full-back Chris Perry on the right of goal and got in a shot which the keeper saved with his legs at the near post.

Sean St Ledger had a great chance four minutes from time to pull another back when he was played through by sub Chris Brown, but he hesitated with only the keeper to beat and the ball was knocked behind.

A minute later North End were denied a penalty when Brown was flattened as he turned to shoot, but referee Pat Miller, who had given the visitors nothing all game, blew instead for a foul the other way.

Southampton: Davis, James, Perry, Saiejs, Skacel, Gillett, Lallana, Surman, Euell, Saganowski, McGoldrick.

Substitutes: Bialkowski, Wotton, Smith, Liptak, Wright-Phillips.

Preston North End: Lonergan, Jones, Davies, St Ledger, Nolan, Sedgwick, Nicholson, McKenna, Wallace, Parkin, Elliott.

Substitutes: Neal, Chaplow, Mawene, Brown, Whaley.

Referee: Pat Miller (Bedfordshire)