It wasn’t pretty, not even close. But after a week of ball-breaking, hair-tugging, fist-clenching frustration it was exactly what we needed.
I felt more down-and-out in the build up to this afternoon’s clash than I did at the end of last week’s.
The comradery and unanimous spirit of resilience that followed our Pride Park meltdown has been stretched to breaking point.
First Raging Bill’s “long list of targets” was snipped to a paltry three by the Transfer Mafia, who subsequently called in sick on deadline day for what felt like the 20th successive January.
Radoslaw Majewski was left feeling alone and unloved, West Brom continued their revival and – after appearing vaguely catchable for a week or so – Newcastle demolished a promotion rival to remind the rest of us why signing players in January is a good idea.
Yes, we needed points. And for a long time it looked as though we weren’t going to get them.
Under Irvine Shefiled Wednesday [see City Ground scoreboard] are what a smug pundit might call a ‘well-oiled machine’.
With McKenna under the cosh, and with a congested midfield and stubborn defence to contend with, we were blunted for the second game running. Progress was hardly aided and abetted by our redundant left flank.
What appeared to be a dubious penalty gave us a vital lift, but it was not a catalyst for the magic to return. This was all about patience and balls.
It was the worst home performance in some time; scrappy, stunted, and flat. But a hopeless optimist may point to the fact that this is exactly the right point of the season to start playing badly and raiding points regardless.
To concede a late equaliser against a form side and still recover to win is not the mark of a falling side.
Our wheels may have creaked a little this week, but they haven’t come off just yet.
The most satisfying moment of the afternoon was flying down the concrete steps to goad the Wednesday fans - launching straight into a potentially fatal mass of writhing idiots.
Football can be cruel at times, but we’ve been in their boots often enough.
Ratings:
Camp – 7.5 – some poor kicking, but he gobbled up everything and kept a cool head under pressure.
Gunter – 7 – dogged performance. Job done.
Morgan – 7.5 – Iron Wes delivers again.
Wilson – 7.5 – dependable and cool-headed.
Perch – 6 – spirited second half display as we dug in for the win, but his backward passing and frenzied dislike of possession are an ongoing concern.
Cohen – 7 – his mileage proved useful late on.
Moussi – 7 – a frustrating game for Moussi as opponents swarmed, but he picked out a few decent passes and kept going.
McKenna – 6 – has lost his magic wand in recent weeks.
Tyson – 6 – with a left-back entirely devoid of the ability to play forward balls he was never likely to be busy.
Earnshaw – 6 – a poor game by his own standards, including some very bizarre touches (Tyson-esque, I daresay).
Blackstock – 8 – did the business where it mattered most.
Subs:
Anderson – 7.5
Adebola – 7
McGoldrick – 7
Referee – 3 – don’t come again.
