*

By Pete Sixsmith

My negative vibes about this one began on the Friday afternoon.

After preaching confidence for weeks, really believing that we would not lose another game, I was hit by something on Friday and had a troubled night before getting up at 4.45am to catch the coach at 6.15.

I had been to Layer Road once before, to watch a reserve game one August afternoon when Durham’s game against Essex had been washed away.

Colchester were in League 2 then and on the verge of bankruptcy; they survived by selling Lua Lua to the Mags.

Even then it was the worst ground I had been on for ages and Saturday showed things have not changed.

It’s small, tight and not very welcoming. The toilet facilities for the visitors were not good (one WC for women; one WC and a two space urinal for men) and there was not much room on the six steps that made up the visitors’ terrace.

However we could moan all day about the facilities but that’s not what the game is about – it’s about performing on the pitch and boy did they – Colchester – perform.

* Poor quality but maybe that’s just as well…since it shows their penalty sealing our fate

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Roy Keane said it to the press. I said it in a text to a disconsolate Pete Sixsmith on his way home from Colchester. And not even today’s awful result from Molineux – Birmingham grabbing top spot back after coming from behind and surviving an injury time penalty to win 3-2 – changes it.

Whether we go up in one of the two automatic promotion places is still in the hands of the huddle to my left.

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By Joe Simpson, actor and lifelong Sunderland supporter
Today, the 19th of April 2007, is a special day for all Sunderland fans, a day to pause and think and remember a great moment in our history.

Yes, as I’m sure you are all aware, it is precisely 10 years to the day since Darren Williams scored the winner against some Yorkshire club from up the road who seem to think they are from the North East – 1-0 to the Sunderland and the smog monsters were virtually relegated. And it looked like we might be safe….well at least it did that day.

How do I remember this so clearly? Well it’s also my 10th wedding anniversary today and some things just seem to stick in your mind.

I not sure how many times Darren Williams has had a mention in a groom’s wedding speech but he did that day and, partly because of that, in my eyes Dazza could do no wrong.

* Picture: Courtesy A Love Supreme

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Watch the goals from Saturday v QPR and hear Quinnie on the subject of promotion – then read on

When Roy Keane, fresh from signing on the dotted line, asked to be talked through the squad he was taking on, he said he should have held out for a much bigger salary.

It was a light hearted remark. But then everyone knew there were plenty of weaknesses among players from the Reid and McCarthy eras and even among those brought in by Niall Quinn.

What of the squad now? Men who were struggling before but have thrived under Keane. Others who have responded to his methods, inspiration and example and just got better and better? And the lads he has bought or borrowed?

At his press conference following the QPR game, the boss said there were a number of players at the club who, he was sure, could hold their own in the Premiership.

Who are those players? Let Salut! Sunderland know those areas you would strengthen and those you would trust in the higher division.

Yes, I know we are not there yet. We are Sunderland supporters and should know better than to get carried away. But we couldn’t have set ourselves up better for the final lap. We MUST do it!

And who knows, I might even come up with another prize for the brightest, funniest or most interesting response. I’ll set the ball rolling with my own thoughts……….

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Gina McKee
Picture: image4

Thank you for the entries to Salut! Sunderland‘s competition marking its first 5,000 hits.

The question I set was this:

Imagine I am an acclaimed actress. Now read the clues and tell me who I am

1) I was born into a Red and White household in the North East

2) I have won awards for my work and my roles have included a nurse, a woman in a wheelchair and a store detective

3) Whether – or how much – I support Sunderland is a bit of a mystery. But a fly on the wall would make you think I was passionate

The answer, of course, is Gina McKee: Peterlee lass, superb actress and the product of a resolutely SAFC-supporting household. She famously narrated the Premiers Passions series that took a fly-on-the-wall look inside the club during the Reid era (hence question 3) but firmly resisted all attempts by Wear Down South to tempt her into an interview.

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Sunderland, Saturday

Some day.

It began with The Independent falsely telling me we were back to second. Which bloody Derby game had I missed since Momentous Monday at st Mary’s, Southampton? Nonsense – no such thing had happened; the paper had just managed to print an old league table.

I am sure an explanation will be forthcoming from my friend Sam Wallace, the Indie’s excellent football writer who grew up on the same estate as Kevin Phillips, or maybe it was the next one, and should really support Sunderland as his family came from the area, but doesn’t.

That bogus league table bothered me all morning until I was reassured that we were still top.

AS WE ARE TONIGHT!
My first home game in ages…..and the last time I saw the team was at QPR, when comical misses made the scoreline – 2-1 – seem a bit tight.

Today was similar. Whitehead’s opener, smartly made and taken, came in under seven minutes and made us believe we were in for a high-scoring stroll.

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The Lads drew 40,000-plus to the Stadium of Light on Saturday. A look down the Premiership attendances shows how impressive that was.

Keane 2 McCarthy 1
Picture: smirkyspice

Salut! Sunderland has a long way to go, but will very soon – today? tomorrow? by the time I finish typing these words? – pass another little milestone. We didn’t get going until mid-January so it’s an encouraging response in such a short time.

To mark the first 5,000 “hits” to this site, and to stop me thinking too hard about the match at Southampton, I today announce the details of a modest competition.

The prizes: a copy of Alice in Sunderland, Bryan Talbot’s fascinating book mentioned in an earlier posting AND a guest column, on any football related topic, on Salut! Sunderland*.

If you get the answer to the question that follows, send it by e-mail _ NOT AS A COMMENT TO BE POSTED HERE – to colinrandall@yahoo.fr or to the address that appears on the e-mail link on this page (top left). I will keep the competition open until Saturday April 14 – let’s make 3pm, kick off time for the QPR game, the deadline for entries.

The winner will be chosen at random from all correct entries received. My decision will have to be final.

To enter, READ ON………..after first taking in the news that Birmingham have lost, Derby could only draw. What an incentive for the Lads at Southampton. Top tonight in they win, and the last two sentences removed if they lose (even though we’d stay second).

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