It didn’t matter how Saints beat Swansea, just so long as they did to all but preserve their Premier League status.

The game at the Liberty Stadium will not go down as a classic for the football purists but it was one of the most tight and tense encounters you could ever wish to see.

It was high stakes football at its very finest with both teams all too aware that the loser was all but condemned to relegation.

Though victory has not mathematically secured Saints’ top flight position it would take such a monumental swing on the final day that it is almost beyond improbable that the Championship will suck them in.

There is still a pretty forensic inquiry to take place into how this club fell into such a state of disrepair that it sunk so hard and so fast into the situation where they had a game they had to win to stay up, but that is for another day.

For now it is to savour the moment.

As many Saints fans realise all too well, this isn’t really a reason for celebration in and of itself. Staying up is not an excuse for a party or wild celebrations from the team as it should never have come to this.

But when the chips have been down it still feels like a big victory.

Firstly, credit to Mark Hughes who has led Saints to safety when the situation looked grim.

He was also a big part of this victory over Swansea.

The build-up to the game was mired in controversy.

There was the mysteriously cancelled Swansea Marriott hotel, then the expected police escort that wasn’t forthcoming, and finally Saints were told they must wait around 25 minutes to get off the bus after arriving at the ground.

Hughes used all this to his advantage in a motivational masterstroke.

Definitively he demanded the coach driver opened the doors and led the team into the ground in good time to begin their final preparations.

The atmosphere at the Liberty was pumping as the teams walked out.

While the Swansea supporters created a wall of noise it was the travelling Saints fans, packing out virtually an entire end behind the goal, who made most of the noise throughout.

Both teams knew the significance and it really did seem to weigh heavily upon them.

The first half in particular was very low quality.

Nobody wanted to be the one to make a crucial mistake and the nerves were obvious.

So often it was safety first, so often it was long balls up the field to get rid of it, especially from Swansea.

For Saints it was alright. They wanted to keep it tight and see if the pressure really built on Swansea as the home side.

And it duly did as their poor form and low quality in attacking areas negated their high work rate.

The nearest they came in the first period was an Andy King shot saved by Alex McCarthy, a Jordan Ayew header that was well wide and a flick from Sam Clucas that was also off target.

Saints got what they wanted in that the chances they created almost exclusively fell to Charlie Austin.

However, this was not his day in front of goal.

In the first period he shot well wide with a tough chance from distance, across goal but not quite in the far corner when played in by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg which allowed Lukasz Fabianski to save and an acrobatic scissor kick that was straight down the throat of the Swansea stopper.

Swansea started the second period brightly and McCarthy saved superbly as Jordan Ayew cut in from the left and hit a right footed shot that was dipping viciously.

But then Saints started to turn the screw and up the tempo.

It felt as if Saints still had gears left to find whereas Swansea were as good as they were going to be.

It was a case of whether Saints could grab that crucial goal.

Austin had another chance with a free header from eight yards out but simply picked out Fabianski before a long break in play for an injury to Jan Bednarek, which saw a decisive change as Manolo Gabbiadini came on as Saints went 4-2-3-1, just as the momentum had started to see-saw in Swansea’s favour.

Tammy Abraham rammed a shot straight at McCarthy but finally the magic moment arrived for Saints on 72 minutes.

Dusan Tadic’s left wing corner was headed back by Shane Long and then nodded into the danger area by Oriol Romeu.

Austin got in an instinctive shot which was saved by the legs of Fabianski and evaded the Swansea defenders to present itself to Manolo Gabbiadini, who made himself the hero with a close range finish.

It deflated Swansea and with Saints now confident they saw out the game with a degree of comfort.

Indeed, it was they that came closest to scoring in the final stages as Long lashed into the side netting from a tight angle.

This was to be their night, their survival party and Swansea’s evening of woe.

All the build-up, all the controversy, all the worries of the past few months, weeks and days evaporated with a blow of the referee’s whistle.

Saints did it.

They are safe.

This may not be a true reason to celebrate in the grand scheme of things, but for now it is a moment to enjoy.

The inquest can wait a few more days.