On January 28 2006, the pair met at the same stage of the competition, albeit at the Walkers Stadium, where a solitary goal decided a tie that was gritty as much as it was dramatic.
Just like this term, with Tonda Eckerts Saints fighting for Championship promotion whilst juggling the cup, the class of 2006 were getting to grips with second-tier football under relatively new boss George Burley.
Jim Brennan. (Image: Echo)
The hero that afternoon in 2006 was Kenwyne Jones – whose late winner has a familiar ring to the one Saints will be hoping for this weekend.
With the tie drifting into a replay, Jones – just seven minutes after entering the game – picked up a loose high ball that hadn’t been dealt with by the Leicester defence.
In stoppage time, the Trinidad & Tobago international lashed into the bottom corner to seal a 1-0 win and send his side into the fifth round.
However, the 2006 win was based on defensive doggedness as much as Jones’s late explosiveness.
The first half had not lived up to its bright opening with neither keeper being pressed into a save before half-time.
Then, finally,”the match leapt into life in the 57th minute when teenage keeper Bartosz Bialkowski made a vital save at full stretch from Elvis Hammond who broke through on goal.
Darren Potter. (Image: Echo)
The afternoon was also a time of significant transition for the club; Burley fielded new signings Jim Brennan and Darren Potter, while midfielder Simon Gillett came off the bench to make his Saints debut after David Prutton went off with an ankle injury.
Brett Ormerod had departed the club, and Nigel Quashie was heavily linked with a move away; it was a team in transition midway through a season, as is so often the case as players come and go during the transfer windows.
Fans will hope for a more fluid match than the scrappy meeting of 2006 but the result itself remains a blueprint; a clean sheet, a late winner and progression to the next round would perfectly echo the events of history.
As Eckert’s side look to build on their own recent 1-0 win over Watford, they need only recall Kenwyne Jones’ late winner to be reminded that in the FA Cup, it’s not necessarily how you start, but how you finish.