Southampton survived a second-half fightback from Doncaster Rovers to secure their place in the FA Cup fourth-round draw.
Saints claimed their first win in seven games as Cameron Bragg scored his first senior goal and Cameron Archer and Kuryu Matsuki gave the scoreline a comfortable look at half-time.
The Championship side eased off after the break and the League One strugglers took full advantage as Matty Pearson and Jordan Gibson both scored to narrow the gap to one goal.
Saints manager Tonda Eckert sent on Nathan Wood and Leo Scienza to reinforce his flagging side and they were grateful to debutant goalkeeper Daniel Peretz for a fine reaction save from veteran campaigner Billy Sharp in stoppage time.
Apart from the prospect of a cup run, both sides badly needed a win after six-match winless streaks that stretch back to early December.
Peretz, who joined on loan from Bayern Munich this week, was a virtual spectator as Saints took command quickly at the Eco-Power Stadium.
Bragg made the opening goal just eight minutes in, driving at a retreating Rovers defence and slipping a pass to Matsuki, before tucking away the rebound when the Japanese midfielder’s deflected shot was parried by goalkeeper Thimothee Lo-Tutala.
Archer doubled the lead as he climbed to his feet after claiming he had been fouled, slipped the ball neatly through the legs of Robbie Gotts and then fired in a shot which hit Jamie Sterry and looped over the grasp of Lo-Tutala.
Lo-Tutala denied Archer a second and Matsuki sent a free header wide as Saints dominated, while Peretz saw his first action with a good save from Gibson’s well-struck 30-yard free kick.
A game that looked like a cakewalk for the team 32 places higher in the Football League suddenly turned just three minutes after the interval as Pearson rose highest to head home, while Frankie Okoronkwo, sensing a comeback, fired narrowly wide.
When the excellent Owen Bailey slipped a pass to Gibson, he lashed a shot between Peretz and his near post to put the game in jeopardy.
Eckert’s substitutions appeared to swing the game back in the visitors’ favour but Rovers mustered a huge effort in stoppage time, forcing Peretz into two reflex saves, while Darren Robinson almost marked his debut with a dramatic equaliser, sending his shot whistling over the bar.
Southampton head coach Tonda Eckert told BBC Radio Solent:
“The FA Cup is a very special tournament, and never an easy one, because you have nothing to lose when you go down, so I’m very pleased we’re in the next round.
“In the end, there were some patterns we have seen all season. We need to make sure we improve our resilience on set plays.
“It was a very good first-half. The second-half could have been better, but we’re in the next round.
“We have a good squad but we have seen that flow in a game before, even at 3-0 up at half-time, we have conceded off a corner and [start] suffering.
On Daniel Peretz: “It’s not so easy when you come in after a couple of training sessions with new colleagues and have to learn their names and ways of defending but he had an excellent game, a very promising start.”
Doncaster manager Grant McCann told BBC Radio Sheffield:
“We were slow in the first half, lacked intensity. They were much sharper than us, and you could see the difference between [clubs who were in] Premier League and League Two in the last year or two.
“We gave them the first and second goals and the third was also probably a mistake from us, although it’s a good goal.
“The second-half was much better, reminded me a lot of us here last year, of how intense we were. We went after them, were aggressive, created opportunities, played forward but also played short and mixed the game up really well.
“It was a game of two halves but we didn’t quite get the goal to take it to extra time.”
