Report: Fraser stars as Saints seal cup progress

The winger opened the scoring inside six minutes, racing in behind the Walsall defence to score, before setting up Sékou Mara to double Saints’ lead just shy of the hour.

Fraser’s second goal was a beautifully-taken low curler, while substitute Ché Adams completed the scoring from Carlos Alcaraz’s second assist of the day.

The Sky Bet League Two visitors had their moments, most notably a golden chance for Jack Earing to equalise shortly before Saints’ second, but this was a comfortable afternoon’s work for a much-changed home team.

Russell Martin handed a debut to experienced goalkeeper Joe Lumley, signed in the summer as a free agent following his departure from Reading, where he won the Players’ Player of the Year award last season.

There were also starts for 17-year-olds Sam Amo-Ameyaw and Jayden Meghoma, and rare chances for Mara and Mason Holgate to impress from kick-off.

Martin made nine changes in total from his side at Norwich, with only the central defensive pairing of captain Jack Stephens and Taylor Harwood-Bellis surviving the cull.

Walsall came into the tie on the back of a 6-1 away win at Grimsby, their fourth victory in five games, but without 10-goal top scorer Freddie Draper, recalled by League One Lincoln following a productive loan spell.

Ryan Fraser drills home the opener inside six minutes

Saints, 18 games unbeaten, were right to be in buoyant mood themselves, and showed no signs of being disjointed from all the changes as they tore into Walsall from the start.

Fraser went haring down the left in the very first minute, crossing for Amo-Ameyaw, only for the ball to flick up on to the hand of the youngster.

The roles were reversed soon after, as Amo-Ameyaw’s delivery found his more experienced fellow winger, who got his head to the ball to keep the chance alive, but Saints were unable to profit.

Lumley was clearly confident too, running out to the halfway line to sidestep a Walsall man and initiate another attack.

It would take only six minutes for Saints to make the breakthrough, as Harwood-Bellis spotted the run of Fraser in behind the visiting defence and curled a pass over the top that bounced into his path, inviting the Scot to take one touch to control and one to finish with a low shot past the diving Jackson Smith, low to the keeper’s right.

Another chance followed inside the first 10 minutes, provided by home debutant Meghoma, whose dangerous cross was headed over by Mara from 10 yards, as Saints kept up the early intensity.

Walsall excited their vocal travelling army of fans with sporadic attacks, but Lumley was unflustered in goal, as Saints played out from their own six-yard box in trademark fashion.

Mara spurned a golden chance to double the lead following a long-range one-two between Fraser and Amo-Ameyaw.

The former set the teenager free down the right, then raced towards the box to offer support, seeing his shot hit Mara, before the ball bounced kindly back to the Frenchman, who could only blaze over on the stretch from six yards.

Tyler Dibling, 17, came on for his home debut in the second half

The Saddlers had not posed much of a threat, but were visibly growing in belief as half time approached.

Tom Knowles turned inside Meghoma and flashed a shot wide of the near post, before crossing for Douglas James-Taylor to force a first save from Lumley, though the striker was penalised for grappling with right-back Holgate in the process.

Then space opened up for Isaac Hutchinson on the edge of the box, who might have slipped in James-Taylor to his left but opted to go for goal himself, shooting too close to Lumley, whose handling was up to the task.

There were chances for Saints too, specifically for Will Smallbone, who forced a low save from Smith before shooting wildly off target from 10 yards, though both chances fell to his left foot.

Smith then had to be alert to scramble away Alcaraz’s 20-yard effort with Mara closing in.

Into the second period with the tie still very much in the balance, Knowles sent another shot flashing over the bar when he intercepted a stray pass from Stephens.

Bad habits were spreading across the backline. Holgate’s pass into midfield was underhit and Earing stole in to go eye to eye with Lumley, but could not steer his shot inside the far corner.

It was a huge chance wasted for the visitors, and one they’d be made to pay the price for seven minutes later.

Again Saints started from deep inside their own territory, but Stephens found Alcaraz, Alcaraz found Fraser and Saints were away, as the winger kept his head to pick out Mara, who collected the pass from behind him, spun and shot all in one motion, finding the roof of the net to finish off a slick counter-attack in style.

Another teenager, Cameron Bragg, made his senior debut from the bench

Meanwhile, Smallbone was getting closer and closer to a goal of his own. Meghoma was doing himself no harm down the left and twice delivered low crosses for the onrushing midfielder – the first diverted over the bar, the second steered fractionally wide with a deft touch.

But the third goal was coming and it was no surprise when Fraser provided it with his third notable contribution of the day.

After scoring the first and assisting the second, the winger showed his class once more to caress an Alcaraz pass into the far corner, curling a low first-time shot beyond Smith’s outstretched left hand to put the tie to bed.

Lumley pulled off another save from James-Taylor to cap a sound debut, affording Martin the opportunity to take a look at another 17-year-old, Tyler Dibling, for his first St Mary’s appearance for the first team.

By now Adams had already been on the pitch for 10 minutes, and the striker made his mark from another Alcaraz assist, sliding the ball beyond Smith for Saints’ fourth goal 12 minutes from time.

Nineteen-year-old midfielder Cameron Bragg was given his debut in the closing stages, replacing Amo-Ameyaw, who departed to generous applause from his supporters who will be excited to see more of his fast footwork in the future.

Dibling fired a low shot into the side-netting in search of his first senior goal on a memorable day for Saints’ youngsters, but it was Fraser who was the star of the show at St Mary’s.

Southampton: Lumley, Holgate, Harwood-Bellis (Adams 66), Stephens (c), Holgate, Meghoma, Smallbone, Charles, Alcaraz, Amo-Ameyaw (Bragg 84), Mara (Dibling 76), Fraser.

Unused substitutes: McCarthy, Bednarek, Manning, Downes, S Armstrong, A Armstrong.

Goals: Fraser (6’, 68’), Mara (58’), Adams (78’).

Yellow cards: Amo-Ameyaw.

Walsall: Smith, Okagbue, Farquharson, Daniels (c) (Adegboyega 77), Knowles, Hutchinson, Comley, Earing (Allen 77), Gordon, Johnson (Foulkes 86), James-Taylor.

Unused substitutes: Evans, Menayese, Wragg.

Referee: David Webb.

Attendance: 22,627.