Before
Best news of the week was that Kenwyne wasn't as badly injured as we'd feared and that he might even play this afternoon. I thought he was fantastic against Man City and if he does play some part today, I think we'll just edge it. If Reidy returns too, that'll be the icing on the cake. Interest is also added by the probable presence of Kevin Phillips though of course I hope he doesn't get that 250 th goal he's after. He was very well received by our lot at the away fixture back in October and it's likely we won't see him play against us again, unless we go down that is. I can't see Birmingham keeping him though there'll be a queue of Championship sides ready to grab him. Birmingham looked very good going forward in that match and Benitez, Jerome and McFadden were a handful. With Mensah onboard our defence is finally looking like a defence again. He dealt with Tevez very well on the whole and I hope we can keep him after this season ends. As regards the other games today I can't see West Ham and Bolton getting anything out of Arsenal and Everton respectively and I fancy Pompey to get at least a draw at home to Hull. Wigan will probably sort Burnley out and though a draw would be better for us, it's unlikely to happen. Wolves are 1-0 down to Villa as I write this so I'm hoping for a few more. Listening to some West Ham fans on the phone-ins they sound like they're doomed already but I still think Burnley and Hull will be the other two taking the plunge. Match prediction 2-1 to us.

The Match
By the time our match kicked off Wolves had fought back to get a very respectable draw, which at least bodes well for us on Wednesday, and I'd heard that Kenwyne and Reid weren't even on the bench while Benjani would make his starting debut. This all made my heart sink as I got Radio Newcastle online but I hoped that Benjani would overcome my doubts and show me he wasn't the plank I suspected he was. Within five minutes we were one-up, yet again, with Bent getting his twentieth so far. Shortly afterwards our run of adverse refereeing decisions continued when what sounded like a clear handball was ignored. On the positive side we've had the beach-ball goal but we've had very little else this season. Within ten minutes the brilliant Malbranque had set up Bent's second and it felt like the good times were back. I reckoned that I could even entertain the possibility of Superkev getting a late consolation goal and taking a farewell bow as the stands rose in applause. I agree that Defoe and Crouch should be in the World Cup squad but how can pundits keep saying that Carlton Cole and Zamora should be included too without mentioning Bent? Birmingham started to get much more into it as the half progressed with Carr finding an ominous amount of room down the right and Gordon had to save well from Benitez. We managed to get back into it and racked up the corners, creating several good chances. At the break we were still 2-0 up and there'd been many positives in our play with Bent and Malbranque again taking the plaudits while Hutton had impressed once more, combining well with Campbell. Something had been strangely absent from our performance, though, and that was a yellow card.

Shortly into the second half it looked as though Immensah was going to go off injured but he returned to much applause. My Ghanaian colleague, Dickson, saw him play for us for the first time against Man City and we had a Mensah love-in at work on Monday. The crowd was announced – a kick of the arse short of 38,000 – and there was loud applause as Phillips warmed up. Just as long as he didn't come on. We were on the back-foot for a long while and Gordon had to make several more good saves but it was great to hear that we had subs of the quality of Catts and Henderson warming up. With thirty minutes to go McFadden and Phillips came on and almost immediately Jerome pulled one back. We hadn't really started in the second-half and it was time to sweat as Birmingham piled on the pressure. With twenty minutes to go Bardsley and Henderson came on for Mensah and Benjani and the pressure eased a bit, but not for long. Like everyone else I feared that we'd concede a late goal like we did last Sunday as those seconds ticked away. With just over ten minutes to go Catts came on for Steed and we badly needed his steel in midfield. I couldn't sit down any more and with three minutes to go I was reduced to plucking dead leaves off plants in a desperate attempt not to look at the clock when Henderson set up a delicious third goal courtesy of Campbell. I could hear a woman in the crowd screaming. It made a change for us to score a late goal and not concede one.

So, a great result despite the dodgy second-half and just as well because the next three games will be a major test. Other scores went well for us with Pompey beating Hull, Bolton going down at Everton and Wigan grabbing a late winner against Burnley. We're ten points ahead of Hull and Burnley now. Well, now it's time to relax and hopefully listen to the Hammers getting hammered. It's nothing personal.

Happy New Year to all our Iranian readers.

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