The teams walked out to a cauldron of noise inside St Mary’s, both sets of fans willing their sides on with hopes and dreams of achieving an automatic return to the Premier League.
Jaden Philogene struck from distance after a fast start by the visitors with an effort that stung the palms of Peretz. Dan Neil then followed up moments later with a shot that took a deflection and looped narrowly over the Saints crossbar.
The first half was played at a high pace but lacked clear cut chances as both sides enjoyed spells on the ball but rarely ventured into noteworthy shooting positions.
Despite the lack of chances, the energy and the atmosphere hinted at something greater that was ready to unfold after the break.
Larin nearly broke the deadlock early in the second half as he connected well with a bicycle kick that was tipped over the bar by Christian Walton.
The Tractor Boys found a breakthrough early in the second half as Ivan Azon poked a pass through to Burns who was in space on the right-hand side of the box.
The winger then took a touch before putting his foot through the ball and into the net via the hand of Peretz – the power of the strike proving too great for the Saints keeper.
Just before the hour mark Saints managed to level as Manning’s low and powerful free-kick on the edge of the box took a deflection off Marcelino Nunez and flew over the line via the foot of Walton.
Larin then produced a moment of quality to give his side the lead, controlling a through ball before cutting inside and using the outside of his foot to chip the ball over Walton and into the back of the net.
But the visitors were far from done as Clarke struck a ball into the back of the net with three minutes remaining, hitting his effort on the volley and into the bottom right-hand corner.
Clarke nearly had the final say, only to be denied by Peretz’s outstanding fingertip stop – a save that keeps the race to join Coventry City in the Premier League alive for another few days.
