If there wasn’t much time between City and Everton, (which there obviously wasn’t) then there was even less between Everton and Blackburn. Due to the holiday/Christmas situation, most people had forgotten what day of the week it was, the weather didn’t help, and it was Monday morning and Blackburn away. The weather has provided spectacular scenery and views as we crossed the A66, and before we knew where we were, we were in Lancaster.

A blessing on those motorway services who have, for some reason, stopped doing free meals for coach drivers – it means no stops and an early arrival in town, with the Golden Lion opening up a full three and a half hours ahead of schedule. Nicely ensconced in the nook, with a roaring fire, we looked over our shoulders at the England cricket score and had a couple of hours of great crack. Somewhere between the Borough and the bus I found a huge sprig of mistletoe, and it found its way into the ground, passing the search on the way in without question.

The much-discussed squad shortages, thanks to injuries, suspensions, and other rumoured reasons for absence, (no Turner, Mensah, Jones, Reid, Cattermole, etc.) resulted in a line-up of ….

Fulop
Bardsley, Noz, Da Silva, McCartney (fair enough so far….)
Hendo, Meyler, Cana, Murphy (blimey….)
Campbell, Bent

And the subs included Reed, Noble, and Liddle, combined age about the same as me and my sandwiches. How was this lot going to fare, we thought, as swarms of Sunderland fans (of both sexes, it has to be said) clambered over to take advantage of the mistletoe. As it turned out, not too shabbily at all. While we can be excused for not managing a goal due to the inexperience and makeshift nature of our team, Blackburn seemed determined to have football done away with. Without Chris Samba, they’d have lost by ten. He played defence, midfield, and up front, and the rest of his team seemed restricted to hoofing the ball as far and as high as humanly possible. Even Chimbonda seemed a little embarrassed by not being allowed to pass the ball short, and Da Silva carried on where he’d left of on Saturday in mopping things up, and Noz was his usual unorthodox self. There were precious few chances for either side in the first half, and to be honest, we were quite happy to be level. There had been moments of possibility, as Bent and Campbell were always on the verge of breaking away, and Meyler showed good composure for a lad that we’ve seen in the reserves making Cana look shy in the tackle. Captain Cana was a little bit restrained by his standards, obviously having been telt to rein it in a bit. Campbell and Meyler tried their luck from distance, but there were no real close things for us. Ref Reid managed to make an impression with some lop-sided decisions, seeming to fall for the Blackburn tactic of whining about every decision that went against them and wowling about every decision that went their way. To think that we were seriously linked with Allardyce as a manager not too long ago – there seems to be no intention of trying to play football about him, and I wish he’d stayed up the road a bit longer. A local derby between Blackburn and Bolton must be the dullest game (of any type) in the world.

So level at half time was no disgrace and no real disappointment, and no changes were made. We began to understand each other a bit more, and Murphy showed that he does actually have something to offer the team with several decent crosses, almost as tasty as the one Jones planted on Bent’s forehead a few days ago. Not too far into the half, he popped one into the box, and after what seemed like an age and dozen blocked efforts, Bent got his toe to the ball and it was 1-0. Get in, Christmas cheer and all that, give everybody a cuddle, punch the air, 1-1. Bugger, barely a minute later and we failed to defend out near post and they scored. Still, half an hour to go, we could win this, and it looked like we would when Hendo looked up, saw the space in front of Bent, and slipped a perfect pass into just the right spot. Bent did exactly what we’ve come to expect and dispatched a perfect finish to put us ahead, and we cuddled each other again, with the mistletoe taking a real hammering.

Could we hold on? Nah. On came Diouf to howls of derision, and he started to keep the ball on the ground for Blackburn, which seemed to baffle most of his team-mates. Ironically, it was Chimbonda who floated in a cross which Diouf headed home for 2-2. Blackburn slashed a number of chances wide, we almost got in a couple of times, and Fulop made up for his indecision on the second goal with a cracking save late on. So it ended up 2-2, and, while a draw away from home with a makeshift team shouldn’t be sniffed at, there was a chance to win this one against a Blackburn side unimaginative in the extreme.

It was spoiled a bit (more than a bit, actually) by the ref’s falling for Blackburn’s protestations several times and generally being crap, but we shouldn’t be surprised by that in the Prem. It seems like a lot of officials are more concerned with being part of the showbiz than actually officiating a game correctly, and are Hell bent on interpreting the rules to the detriment of entertainment and fairness.

Man of the Match? Really good debut by Meyler, restrained and effective display by Cana, unorthodox as ever by Noz and cool as you like from Da Silva. Bent – well, he scored twice, so you can’t complain about his day at work. For me, Henderson was the man, with his star moment being the creation of our second goal.

Keep the Faith, and bring on Barrow

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