It's simply too easy to accept that honours are even between Southampton and Portsmouth this season after two stalemates.
The first match at St Mary's in September was a drab affair, devoid of chances and goals. Will Still's Southampton side were rabbits caught in the headlights of a rusty old Ford Cortina - the like of which you might find torched in a disused Leigh Park garage or crawling along the pot-holed seafront at Southsea.
Pompey came for the point, and they went away happy. John Mousinho had come to frustrate the superior side, and Will Still and co fell headfirst into his trap. The only talking point came at the end of the match when Mousinho and Still had a minor disagreement and squared up to each other (sort of).
A two-legged affair and an old rule
It's a well-worn cliche that football is a two-legged affair, and this season's derby matches should be looked upon as exactly that. The first leg was at St Mary's in September, and the second leg was at Fratton Park last Sunday.
Perhaps it's worth taking that one step further and applying an old rule used in European Cup competitions to determine which side is the best. The away goals rule.
The away goals rule was used to decide the outcome of two-legged cup matches for most of the twentieth century and was only abolished as a determining factor in 2001. The rule was very simple. Whichever team had scored the most away goals over the two legs progressed through to the next round.
Extra time and penalties became a more accepted way of resolving tied matches in the new millennium, and the away goals rule quickly became a thing of the past.
Portsmouth 1-1 Southampton (Southampton win on away goals)
Be that as it may, it's interesting to note that over the two 'legs' of football played between Southampton and Portsmouth this season, Southampton would have won the tie because they scored one away goal and Portsmouth failed to register at St Mary's.
Léo Scienza's second-half goal would have been enough to give Saints' fans bragging rights of the 'real' South Coast derby, and Ebou Adams ' bundled-in equaliser would have counted for nothing.
Sadly for Southampton fans, the reality is that neither team benefited from these two draws. Had both teams won a match apiece, they would have earned three points each rather than the measly two they actually secured. Saints would be one point closer to the top six, and Pompey would be one point closer to Championship survival.
Although the away goals rule is long gone, Saints fans will take more satisfaction from the fact that they got to celebrate a goal at Fratton Park than the Portsmouth fans will take from their goalless trip to St Mary's. In a way, that's enough. It may no longer be used to decide matters anymore, but on this occasion, Southampton win on the away goals rule!