OK, it has to be admitted that Liverpool came at us like a whirlwind in the opening stages of the game, and they were well worth their opening goal and the penalty, but at 4:45 it was the home side counting their blessings and being thankful for a share of the spoils.

It’s good to be back. No more struggling to make my own entertainment of a Saturday, because those lovely people at the Premier League have planned the next nine months for me. No more sweeping the back yard, washing the car (OK, I made that one up), or visiting exotic pubs around the North East, it’s back to the football. There were the pre-season friendlies, of course, when we got the chance to have a peep at the new Lads that Brucie spent the Henderson millions on, and the ressies winning the Tote Cup against Walsall in a game left over from last season.

We learned a lot in the close season. On a personal level, I found that I have a cousin who does Gareth Gates’s teeth, and that my better half is descended from the first king of Northumbria (great granda Egfrid), and also has a (very) distant cousin called Betty Windsor – so distant that there’s little chance of there being a King Gary in the near future. We found that Ramsay of Carluke, far from being a Scottish nobleman, is a supplier of square sausage, and that Edinburgh rain is wetter than Hartlepool rain, but Poolie Herring Gulls are bigger than their Scottish cousins. Oh, and that Hartlepool cross-dresser still goes to their home games, but sits with the away fans. Fell out with his home-town club a few years ago, apparently. All very useful stuff for the season to come, I’m sure. We also discovered that, according to the papers, Chelsea’s new gaffer, Andre Villas-Boas, is an absolute tactical genius because he reckons that there are two types of full-back. One type likes to attack, while the other prefers to be more defensive. Hell’s Bells, even Howard Wilkinson had worked that one out, and we had Cec and Len fifty-odd years ago.

While I was putting up my bait (oh, how I’ve missed that Friday evening chore over the summer), our Ian called round and asked what I was doing tomorrow. “Going to the football”, I replied in that slightly indignant parental manner reserved for such questions. “I know” he said” I just thought you’d enjoy saying it.” He’s his father’s son all right, that one.

The first thing we noticed about the new season was the price of the bus, which was bound to happen with the cost of fuel, making it a three-figure day out when you add the ticket price, a few pints and a bit bait. That’s progress, I suppose. At least the recent riots missed the football part of town – at the risk of sounding a bit rude, would you have noticed if there had been a riot in the streets around Anfield? Liverpool is one of those places where you can’t help but indulge in a bit of cenosillicaphobia (fear of an empty glass) in the town centre while catching up with folks you haven’t seen since the Hibs game, or even longer ago. Speaking of Hibs, we thought it was a tremendous idea to augment the 19:00 train with one at 18:35 and another at 18:55, and send out emails telling us that tickets for the 19:00 would be valid on those extra trains. Great stuff – until they announced during the game that they’d both been cancelled, even the one making the impossible journey direct to Sunderland. Were they trying to wind us up on purpose, or what? Sell them a great offer of generosity, let them spend the dinner time in the pub, then drop that bombshell on them. Brilliant.

So, a couple of beers in the Globe, sharing a chat with the Irish and Norwegian Liverpool fans, and then a quickie in that boozer just along from the Kop, and we were back in business.

Ming
Bardsley Brown Ferdy Rico
Elmo Catts Colback Larsson
Sess
Gyan

Like I said, they blew us away in the opening exchanges. We spent fifteen minutes on the back foot, and it could have all gone wrong when Rico’s ball was charged down and Suarez burst into the box and Rico clipped his heels. Penalty, fair enough, but the lad was going away from goal and could never have scored (well, maybe), so there was no need to send him off. Besides, if he’d gone, Carragher (the only carbon-based life form slower than Gareth Barry) would have to have been sent off twice. Thankfully, Suarez had taken a dislike to someone in the upper tier and chose to blast the ball at him/her rather than the goal. Worse was to follow, as Suarez got his head to the ball first and it was 1-0. Downing (we taught him all he knows) cut inside and clipped the bar, then Carroll’s sneaky little nudge on Ferdy meant a disallowed goal. Perversely, Catts getting booked was a blessing as he subsequently sorted himself out to start bossing our part of the midfield. This allowed Colback to start playing football and the two wide men to become involved. We had a couple of breaks from which we might have got something, but Gyan was well policed by the home defence and Sess couldn’t quite get in, although his lively runs became a real pain for the Scousers.

Come the second half, and we were a different team. Whatever the Brucester said, it worked. Henderson was given little time or space to do anything for Pool, and we piled into them, creating several chances in front of the visiting fans in the opening minutes. Ten minutes in, and the ball came in from Elmo on the right after Gyan did well to keep posession, Larsson shaped up (see the excellent photo on the SAFC website) for a textbook strike, almost in slow motion it was so good, and fired it in for the leveller. Fantastic goal, and no more than we deserved for doing to Liverpool what they’d done to us in the first half. From there on, it was Sunderland who piled forward, showing real composure in the centre of midfield but just lacking a bit of bite up front. When Gyan, who’d been a bit over fancy rather than committed, was replaced by Ji on 65, that changed. The big Korean might not have the greatest touch in the world, but it’s not bad. Add to that a work ethic that could run a country – tackling back to cover Rico, for instance – and a willingness to have a go, and that made a real handful for the home defence. With ten or so to go, Larsson took a knock and was replaced by Vaughan, and that all but ended Liverpool’s hopes of a win. He’s a bit like Alex Rae, all short, darting runs, no attempt to be fancy when a simple ball will do, and willingness to chase anything and everything. For the entire ninety minutes, Wes Brown had his eyes on the ball. There’s a rumour that he was arrested on the way out Anfield for having £35million in his back pocket, and that summed him up. Carroll saw a lot of the ball, but spent most of his time in possession running away from our goal and looking to give the ball back. Brown simply had him sussed, and that allowed Ferdy to have a decent game as well. In goal, Ming came for his crosses and did well to collect with Carroll in attendance, while Bards was his usual self. Rico grew into the game, and did a job on their wide men in the second half to such an extent that Hendo was replaced by Kuyt. With Meireles on for Suarez for the last fifteen, we needed to be on our toes, and we were. Catts had us expecting a red card until he was booked, and Colback took a while to settle in – it didn’t start out as his kind of game – but ended up having the better of his multi-million pound opponents. Elmo did the wide man stuff OK, and Larsson – well, he can deliver a ball, which is brilliant. Sess showed that he’ll be a pain in anybody’s defensive arse this season, and Gyan is Gyan – nobody, least of all Gyan, knows what he’s going to do next. Subs Vaughan and Ji were great – Vaughan does exactly what is expected, and Ji already looks like an absolute bargain. He’ll be a handful for any defence, and the fact that we still had Wickham and Gardner on the bench bodes well for the next 37 games.

A well deserved point, and, had we stolen a win, even Hansen and Lawrenson couldn’t have found real grounds for complaint. If I was optimistic before the game, I’m even more optimistic after the game.

Man of the Match? Wes Brown. The man’s concentration and positional sense will probably have Fergie making a bid to take him back to Old Trafford before long. Tremendous game from the feller.

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