Steed deserves plaudits for win
LADIES and gentlemen, please show your appreciation for the little French genius that is Steed Malbranque.
Today's headlines, and most of the column inches, will be dedicated to Darren Bent after he grabbed his first senior hat-trick against Bolton last night.
But, while Bent deserves the plaudits for his goalscoring exploits, take a moment or two to revel in the performance of Malbranque.
We have all been quick to criticise the Frenchman for some of his displays this term, and rightly so, but credit where it is due – he was magnificent against the Trotters.
He was at the heart of the moves that led to almost every goal.
His artistic flair was a joy to behold at times, and his tackling back and getting stuck in made a refreshing change.
While I'm handing out the plaudits, maybe I should raise an imaginary glass (unfortunately it's too early for a real one) to both John Mensah and Kenwyne Jones.
Mensah was a rock at the heart of the defence against Bolton, and looked a class act.
Of course, the big thing with Mensah is whether or not we can keep him fit for a run of games, rather than just for the odd one here and there.
Having heard some reports from last night's game, I don't know if I'm in the minority when it comes to my view on Jones.
Personally, I thought he was superb. He put himself about, got stuck in, worked hard for the team, and was unlucky not to get the goal which I thought his play deserved.
But then the overall performance was certainly pleasing on the eye.
OK, so it's important that we don't get carried away, but as we have had to endure terrible results and displays of late, why not enjoy this one?
One win does not a season make, as they say (or they would have done if they had thought of it), but this result and display was important on more than one front.
The main one being that it is another three points in the bag and moves us back up the Premier League table.
However, it also has to have done our confidence the world of good.
This was a comprehensive win, and gave both the fans and the players the belief that we can turn things around.
Of course, the visit of high-flying and big spending Manchester City on Sunday is likely to be a much bigger ask. But let's savour last night for now.
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Weather for Jarrow
Monday 21 May 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 6 C to 13 C
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Temperature: 8 C to 18 C
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