And we sang all the way home…

I had initially thought that it would be a good idea to start by mentioning the results against Darlington and Bolton because that way, I would be starting on a positive note. The 2-0 win against Darlington went largely unnoticed in the football world but how different it would have been had we lost, with all the headlines adding even more pressure to Dave Jones and his staff.

Bolton away has never been a lucky fixture for us over the years and so it proved last Saturday. If only we could have held out for another five minutes and gained that win, according to my calculations we would have been out of the bottom three but hey, we didn’t and we aren’t. However, what a goal from Alex Rae – a very worthy contender for ‘goal of the month’.

Anyway as it happened, my planning to be positive proved to be totally unnecessary and the win against City meant that it was good news all the way – well done all you guys.

When my dad started out for the Molineux, he had a jacket on that he hadn’t worn since that wonderful day in Cardiff last season and when he put his hands in his pocket, he pulled out his Millennium Stadium ticket. I told him to put it back to bring us luck and he did.

Manchester City are a strange team in that on their day they are quite capable of beating anyone in the league and yet on another, they can appear to be quite average. It’s difficult to say how they intended to perform today because quite simply, the Wolves never gave them the chance. Everyone worked so hard, particularly Rae, Ince and Cameron, that the opposition never got into their stride. In fact I don’t think that Oakes had a shot to save in the first half. Wolves had a couple of half chances and one good opportunity to score which fell to Camara. Unfortunately, he didn’t really have time to bring the ball under control and it finished up over the bar.

The second half again saw the Wolves players competing for every ball and winning most of the 50-50 tackles. City just weren’t being allowed to play the fast flowing football of which we know they are capable but we didn’t seem able to take advantage of the two or three half-chances that came our way and I started to worry that maybe Anelka would break away and score with Manchester’s first opportunity. The tireless Colin Cameron then popped up in City’s penalty area and headed the vital goal which proved to be the winner – oh joy! The record crowd understandably went wild which led some fans to start chanting “we’re gonna win the league!” Whoa chaps – take it easy now.

The last 5 – 10 minutes proved to be a nail-biting time with Kevin Keegan throwing his subs on and the three minutes of ‘extra time’ seemed like an eternity – definitely tin hat time. Then the whistle blew and the relief felt all round the stadium was almost tangible.

Someone asked me who was my man of the match and to be honest – I couldn’t give just one name. Everyone worked so hard it was simply a great team performance. I have to say though, it was good to see Kenny Miller back again even though he is not quite match-fit.

So there you have it. I have just mentioned 3 successive Wolves fixtures and not a defeat in sight – we’re on a roll.

When I was in Italy with the BBC at World Superbikes last weekend, I was asked to give a quote on Sir Jack’s announcement on the sale of the club. My opinion for what it’s worth: well some people think that the timing was wrong but as far as I am concerned, without Sir Jack not only wouldn’t we be in the Premiership but quite possibly we could even be in the second or third division. So, regarding the timing then surely if Sir Jack was a logical person he wouldn’t have put his money in the Club in the first place. For me, he can do what he wants whenever he wants just as long as he keeps a strong association with the Club he loves.

Now I’m back to London for a 3.00 am start in the morning covering the MotoGP from Japan. Bleary eyed I may be but our win today will carry me through; oh and by the way – keep that ticket in your pocket Dad.