It was Saints, buoyed by a fine victory over Leeds at the weekend, who began the brighter, with Rickie Lambert firing a thumping 30-yard free-kick narrowly over and Lee Barnard havng a close-range effort chalked off for offside.
Danny Wilson's side were also fortunate to withstand a barrage of Southampton chances late in the first period as Robins' keeper Phil Smith pulled off wonder saves to deny close-range headers from Lambert and towering right-back Wayne Thomas.
However, the visitors emerged for the second period with far more intent, and just 10 minutes after the restart, they deservedly went ahead.
Charlie Austin seized on some unsure Saints defending to race clear through from Danny Ward's pass and he cooly Kelvin Davis in the Southampton goal to sidefoot home for the game's only goal and end the Saints' seven-game winning run on home soil.
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