For Wrexham, this was a harsh lesson in what Championship football is all about.
Two goals in six dramatic stoppage-time minutes were enough to deny Phil Parkinson's men their first win in the second tier of English football in over 43 years.
A Josh Windass penalty midway through the first half looked enough for a win over a Saints side many believe will be there or thereabouts in the promotion race this season.
The former Sheffield Wednesday man was previously denied by the crossbar early on in what was a hugely impressive first-half performance from the Dragons at St Mary's, although the hosts did strike the woodwork themselves through Jay Robinson just before the break.
An injury to Kieffer Moore early on in the second half appeared to stifle Wrexham's momentum, but as the clocked ticked into 90 minutes, it looked like they had done enough to claim a hugely impressive three points.
Then up stepped Ryan Manning, who levelled with a sublime freekick, before Jack Stephens slid in to add a second with effectively the last kick of the game.
A gut-punch for Wrexham, who might dwell on some of the chances they had to kill the game off, particularly in the second half.
Parkinson handed debuts to six of his new summer recruits, and perhaps one of the positives from this showing is there are already signs this group is starting to gel nicely.
Nevertheless, when Ryan Fraser flashed an early effort wide after just two minutes, one might be forgiven for thinking that this would be something of a reality check for the Hollywood-backed visitors.
Wrexham were in no way overawed by the occasion, mind, and would surely have taken the lead had Conor Coady managed to head an arrowed Windass delivery under the bar.
Southampton left-back
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