Before

I fancy us to win tonight. Even though Norwich won well on Saturday and are almost a different team to the one that got walloped on the opening day of the season, I think whatever team we put out should be too strong for them. I certainly hope it’s all done and dusted after ninety minutes as the last train back here from Norwich leaves at 22.00 and that of course leaves no space for extra time or penalties.

It’s always dangerous to meet a team that’s on the rebound and Holt looks like he’s in the mood for goals so I think they might well score but I fancy us to win it 2-1. Gordon’s definitely in and probably Da Silva and Healy but I’ll have to wait and see what our starting line-up will be. I had a crap sleep last night and when I got my head down on the sofa half an hour ago to try and catch a few zzz’s, as if on cue a workman started hammering some paving-stones outside so I think a refreshing glass of something alcoholic on the way to Liverpool Street may pep me up.

I had a couple of cool lagers in the Hamilton Hall at Liverpool Street Station while I waited for the 4.30 train and had a most pleasant conversation with an Ipswich fan who spotted my shirt and came over to say he hoped we hammered Norwich tonight.

We shot the breeze about Keano, Bobby Robson and Sunderland v Ipswich in the 1961/1962 season. I didn’t see another Sunderland shirt till we were getting near Norwich but having soon located the Compleat Angler there were many more of our lot in there. I bought a ticket at the ground for £16 and then went in search of something to eat. I queued up at a kiosk for a few minutes and then saw the sign that no man likes to see i.e. NO CHIPS but Morrison’s came to my rescue with an apple and a packet of pistachios. Quite a few other Sunderland fans were foraging in there. I was in my seat by 7.35 and as the ground filled up towards kick-off we must’ve had over a thousand there.

The Match

We fielded a number of squad players including Edwards, Nos and Leadbitter, and I was pleased to see Da Silva starting. Norwich began brightly and had most of the first ten minutes but then we took over. There was a chant from our end of, “There’s only one Keano!” Just after twenty-five minutes Kenwyne burst down the right and crossed for Tainio to slot it home. A chant of, “We want seven!” soon went up from our end. Five minutes later we were two-up with another fast break that found Reid in loads of space on our left. He had ample time to pick his spot and chip it in from some distance. After another five minutes or so it was 3-0 from a similar move and Reid was the scorer again. Even after that the Norwich defence were giving Reid oceans of space. Da Silva was looking solid and Campbell was buzzing around very effectively. We should’ve gone 4-0 up in the dying moments of the half but unfortunately one of our forwards made a good block to keep it out.

At half-time a number of our subs came on to warm up and Ferdinand joked and signed autographs while shaking hands with a number of fans. There was something quite delicious about the atmosphere at this point. I reckoned we could win it 5-0 or 5-1. I think someone should have a word with Norwich about their mascots. Okay they’ve got a canary, and a cat I can see the sense of but I also spotted what looked like a racoon fraternizing with some kids at the break.

Murphy was on for Jones at the start of the second-half, but it was all academic from there on in. Dangerman Holt was subbed on the hour and four minutes later they got a consolation when Hoolahan was judged to have scored, but it looked to me like Nos put it into his own net. They went very close a couple of minutes later but almost immediately we were 4-1 up when Norwich scored one for us following a corner won by good work from Henderson and Murphy.

Healy came on, for Tainio I think, but he didn’t do much of note. With seven minutes left there was a considerable kerfuffle when Campbell was fouled as he went clear through and then collided with goalie Ben Alnwick. This resulted in Spillane being red-carded, Alnwick and Campbell going off and an outfield player going in goal, much to the delight of the home fans who, to their credit, kept up a good racket. They must’ve used all of their subs because I realised after a while that they were down to nine men. We should’ve had another one but what the hell and we coasted through the five minutes of stoppage-time.

So, it ended 4-1 to us and we deserved it. There were some good performances from players like Edwards and Nos, who not so long back I hadn’t expected to see playing for us again, though Murphy didn’t do much apart from that one chance and if Healy did anything good, I never noticed it. The new slimline Reid was very impressive and although there were numerous chants about Delia’s pies, none referred to him. Gordon was great and made a number of outstanding saves. As soon as the whistle blew I legged it back to the station, bought a four-pack and caught the train no problem, slurping lager on the two hour journey back to London and chatting to another Ipswich fan.

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