Well, that was a canny day out, wasn’t it? The statistics might say that Forest had loads more shots than us, but they weren’t very good shots, as Ruiter had nowt spectacular to do, and ours went in. Hard work and commitment won the day as Coleman’s words were very obviously taken on board by the players, and we on the terraces enjoyed our day in Nottingham. After our second disastrous Adventure In A Yorkshire Landscape on Boxing day, when we’d reprised our Barnsley nonsense pretty spectacularly, the sensible amongst us could only see further misery on the banks of the Trent. Thankfully, there aren’t that many of the sensible variety amongst us, and we travelled in hope
The snow having decided that it had covered enough of our streets, the roads weren’t as much of a problem as we’d thought, and talk immediately turned to who was going to be fit enough to play, never mind what formation we’d employ. Newark came up trumps with another cracking pub – one of the joys of this season is visiting towns for the first time in a decade and finding that they’ve either improved or stayed just as interesting (or Rotherham, bless its cotton socks), and Newark didn’t disappoint. The Forest fans there told us that their side was very much up and down, so we hoped that we were visiting on a down day.
Fears of Browning being unfit were allayed when he joined the others in the warm-up, and we lined up in our pale blue kit, defending the end that housed another 2,000-plus sold-out away end.
Ruiter
Love O’Shea Wilson Browning Matthews
Gibson
Honeyman McManaman
McGeady Maja
Grabban’s January window injury meant that Maja got to lead the line, and we hoped that his pace and movement would give the home defence a hard time, and it became apparent fairly early on that this was our tactic – get it to his feet and see what he and McGeady could conjure up. Not a lot, as it happens, but it kept the Forest defenders on their toes even if we didn’t give their keeper much to do in terms of saving shots. Browning’s injury had turned out to be just a rumour, thankfully, as I wouldn’t fancy Wilson as the only help O’Shea would get. Daryl Murphy was a bit of a bother early on, but we managed to keep him just far enough away from the goal to be safe, as we played through Gibson a lot and tried to use the energy of Honeyman and the guile of McManaman to move the ball forwards. Unlike Boxing Day, when Gibson was forever looking for a non-existent target for his passes, McGeady and Maja, particularly Maja, were willing recipients, and, for all Forest’s possession, we always looked like we might just sneak in. A big “might”, though, as Forest kept coming forward and gave O’Shea and company plenty to think about -thankfully they did their job well.
Where there had been apathy at Bramall Lane, there was application at the City Ground, and you could see the extra bit of bite and application in our play. McGeady was drifting across the pitch behind Maja, which I assume was his remit for the afternoon, and, while we didn’t get through, we quite often looked like we might. Forest, on the other hand, got through quite a lot but their finishing was a bit.... meh. Ruiter collected crosses and held onto shots, but didn’t really have to get his shirt mucky as they fired high, wide, and gently into his arms. The early threat of us mebbe sneaking in sort of faded as the game went on, but there was resolution in our play, and we were looking forward to a half time break on level terms – not quite a Wolves performance, but one where we’d bide our time, swap things around, and get something. Then it went a bit daft, as Maja slipped the ball out to Matthews, overlapping on the left, and he (after adjusting his hair, as he seems particularly keen on these days) fired in a proper, pacey, cross with his wrong foot, and McGeady flew in from the right to meet it with a header that Niall Quinn would be proud of, putting the ball back across the keeper and into the net from near the penalty spot. Bloody magic, and the travellers celebrated as only Sunderland fans can. Thankfully most of us stayed in the seats this time rather than the concourse, a sign that the team deserved our support, and the sound of the home fans booing their team off was very welcome. If they thought that performance deserved booing, they should try watching us for a while.
A single added minute, no changes for the second half as we attacked the goal in front of us (they’re both in front of us, I know, but this one was the closer of the two) and it quickly became apparent that Maja was knackered – he kept trying, but he’d run his socks off in the first half, to generally good effect, and was suffering a bit. Honeyman, on the other hand, seems to be able to run like a Duracell rabbit for indefinite periods, and did a great job keeping hold of the ball. Even when he was twice clattered by David Vaughan (remember that goal at Sid James Park? If not, why not?) he managed to get to his feet and keep on keeping on. Just short of 70 minutes Vaughan (James) replaced Maja, and soon after Gooch came on for McManaman. James was the last thing the home defence wanted to see, as after being teased by Maja’s pace they now had to face being battered by Vaughan’s more physical approach. Not that it was the first thing he showed, as a Colin Pascoe-esque twizzle near halfway left two markers for dead and produced a run at goal – but he was stopped on the edge of the box.
The amount of possession Forest had should have led to more clear chances, but we defended well and the home crowd got frustrated and started calling us names – to which there is only one response. Most of them don’t know what “scab” means, and those that do are too ashamed to explain it. So that’s what we called them. Vaughan chased back and smashed in tackle that Bally would have been proud of, while the rest of the team kept up the work-rate. We tried the “Wilson push forward a bit” tactic, which only highlights the bloke’s inability to pass when given time, but defensively we were solid when he moved back. With about ten to go, McGeady left the field with a smile as wide as the Trent, replaced by Oviedo, who did a good job by pushing forwards down the left to keep the pressure off our defence. Forest did manage to hit the outside of the post towards the end of the four added minutes, but an equaliser would have been very harsh on us. Forget the stats, the effectiveness of our performance was what won us the three points and Coleman showed his appreciation after the whistle. I love it when a plan comes together, and so, very obviously, does Chris.
Man of the Match? McGeady’s header made him a contender, while Gibson again showed that he’s a good footballer when other people do the bits he’s not so good at. O’Shea’s organisation was again crucial, but for me it was Matthews, defending well and hitting the perfect cross with his wrong foot to set up the winner.
Happy Days. Enjoy them while you can
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