Sometimes in life, you need a friend to help you out in times of crisis, and this adage was borne out so vividly over the weekend when Wigan came to Fortress St. James to pay a visit. In their train were old boys Titus Calamity Bramble and Antoine Sibierski, the latter having delivered an acerbic parting shot at Freddy before he left for the JJB.
Up till Saturday, the Toon Army had not witnessed a goal scored at home for over 660 minutes of football, a goalless streak that stretches back to February when we saw off Liverpool with a 2-1 win.
The visit of Wigan was tempered somewhat by the departure of loyal servant Solano, our Peruvian wing wizard who never let the club down in his two spells here. Big Sam though was buoyed by the signing of two Senegalese internationals Faye from Bolton and Beye from Marseilles. Faye is of no relation to the waster Amady Faye signed from Portsmouth from Souey. Beye played against in the 2004 UEFA Cup in a side which featured a certain Didier Drogba.
The match started with the Toon bombarding the Wigan goal but it seemed to be a travesty when we went into halftime goalless. This was due to Kirkland’s inspired form, the referee’s blind eye to Titus’s handball, Owen’s ruled out goal and the woodwork. Hope was rekindled with the sending off of Kevin Kilbane for a second bookable offence and our offensive resumed with greater urgency.
Just when the Latics thought they were well worth a point after planting 10 men in their half, a tactical masterstroke by Big Sam turned the game. Martins came on and delivered a cross which eluded everyone in the Wigan goal except Owen who ghosted in at the far post to plant a header into goal. Cue pandemonium, tears of joy and hand raised in victory. The barren run has been thankfully ended. And who was the culprit? Titus of course who failed to clear an innocuous ball. That’s the way Titus plays doesn’t he? Concentrate for 86 minutes and switches off in the last 3. Great! Nice way to come back to Tyneside and helping us with a goal.
So a nice weekend before the internationals. We are up to 6th with one game in hand over most of the teams above us. The sun does shine brightly these days but it is still early in the season. Still, there’s a lot to be grateful for.
1. Owen has opened his premier league account.
2. We kept another clean sheet. that’s now 2 out of 4 matches.
3. Martins can score and set up goals. An excellent substitute.
4. We are enjoying our best run of form since as long as I can remember….
Till 17 th then, we will aim to prevent a slip up at Derby as we attempt to compound their misery.