Cameron Bragg must learn from Southampton's ultimate terrier after red card misstep

Southampton vs Portsmouth isn't regularly littered with red cards, despite the South Coast Derby being notoriously heated.

Before today's full-blooded match kicked off, the last dismissal that took place when the sworn enemies faced each other was back in January 2005, when Diomansy Kamara would be sent off in the 72nd mark for Pompey at St. Mary's.

Peter Crouch would then tuck away a dramatic 90th minute penalty to break Portsmouth hearts even more.

21 years on, we now have our first dismissal since Kamara trudged off the pitch, with Cameron Bragg heading for an early bath on Sunday, after picking up two silly yellow cards in quick succession in a disastrous first taste of the South Coast Derby for the novice midfielder.

Bragg's horror afternoon

Eyebrows would have been raised by Southampton fans when they saw Bragg's name in the starting XI, with the number 26 coming into the side feeling a little unnecessary, considering James Ward-Prowse and Flynn Downes were already present centrally.

Clearly, Tonda Eckert thought he needed another body in the middle of the park, and trusted the number 26 to be able to keep his cool, despite how inexperienced he is.

This call didn't work whatsoever, with the beauty of hindsight on our side, as Bragg looked frequently poor with the ball at his feet.

For both yellow cards, he would be guilty of losing possession, before rashly diving in with a tackle, and then a pull of the shirt.

Adam Herczeg had no choice but to send the error-prone 21-year-old off, with a fear that the Saints would then collapse, as Pompey made good use of their man advantage.

Thankfully, John Mousinho's men were noticeably wasteful in front of goal, as they butchered ten second half shots.

But, as much as Bragg was a deer in the headlights, one of his midfield teammates on the day was calmness personified throughout, as he had just the right amount of bite and composure oozing out of his game.

If the one-time Crawley Town loanee wants to learn from his car-crash afternoon swiftly, he should watch back this individual display and take notes.

He must learn from this midfield terrier

The aforementioned Downes will be one of the first names on Eckert's teamsheet.

The 27-year-old very rarely puts a foot wrong, even when there's a lot of pressure on his shoulders, and he was ice-cold again during the South Coast Derby.

While Bragg mistimed the tackle that led to his first yellow card, Downes would time most of his tackles to perfection, with two tackles won, alongside three interceptions and three ball recoveries being registered.

The one-time West Ham United machine just didn't let the occasion get the better of him, and that will come from years of experience of knowing what to do in such blood-and-thunder matches.

In time, when he's matured, Bragg will be aiming to be a Downes-style presence, with Downes tutoring the boyhood Saints youth product behind the scenes a plausible shout, so another red card can be avoided.

As the Daily Echo's Alfie House put it, the unwearied number four is a "terrier" in the way he is always so sharp, alert, and energetic, despite cutting an initially unassuming 5-foot-8 figure.

Only misplacing five of his 33 passes too, he is the quiet, yet integral heartbeat of this Saints team and he became an even more crucial cog, when Bragg was handed his marching orders.

He thrives during such big matches, too, with Downes commenting - at the full-time whistle - that "these are the games you live for" as a professional footballer.

The hope will be that Bragg is still thrown into matches going forward, after he is back from his suspension, as he's clearly a talented player.

He just needs to work on certain parts of his game, as he is still in the fledgling stages of his career.

Whereas, Downes knows the Championship like the back of his hand now, and he will look to gift the young Scotsman with some necessary pearls of wisdom to bounce back from this South Coast Derby shocker.

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