By Mark Deeks
September 24 2002

The image goes well with this column. Bellamy's goal against the Black Cats summed up the whole day for webmaster Matthew Jones, but Mark Deeks is the person we have to listen to now. Here is what he thinks of the super day. The great unwashed. The cousin marrying hicks from
down the road. The Mackems. The scum. The monkey
lovers.

However you choose to refer to 'em, let's face it we don't exactly get on do we? But that's the way we like it, and they're probably the same. But after all, it's just a small town in Durham so why bother....

It was an early rise this morning. 7:30 departure to be precise. A bomb up the motorway from sunny West Yorkshire, spend a bit of time with the folks then off to SJP. No probs on the drive up. In fact the main form of entertainment was how many Toon fans were on the road at that time, how many pieces of club merchandise we could have in our respective car windows, and who was going to get there first! The atmosphere was buzzing and I was the only one in the car!!

When I was walking through the city centre from
Monument Metro, I was really conscious of a kind of steely determined silent atmosphere about the place. It was like everyone was really focussed on the game, and were in their own personal preparations. I liked it. I was confident. Sooner or later, I told myself, the boys upfront were going to click and someone was going to get a hammering. Could it be the Mackems? In my football watching lifetime (a little over eleven years) I had never seen us beat them by more than one. But it doesn't stop you dreaming does it?

When I arrived at my turnstile at the North West
corner, the barricades were already well established for the arriving away fans. Muppets. They were still there giving it loads of "2-1" signs. Had they forgotten that we'd beaten them since then, and on their own patch at that? Once inside I looked up at the assembled red and white hordes (also some in that strange bubblegum coloured away shirt they've settled on.... well I suppose it's an improvement from the diahorrea shade of a few seasons back!). They didn't look confident at all. I think they knew what was
coming.

I have to admit it, there's something I need to get off my chest. I didn't think that Sunderland could've been any worse than last season. I was wrong. This year they were abysmal. Shocking. Crap. Take your pick. I can assuredly say that I have never been so confident of a derby win in my life once my boy again Little Craig glided in the first. Also, is there yet any better in the business at holding up and giving the ball than Super Al did in the build up? I think not. It was immense. And fair play to the ref as well for letting play go on after Al was poleaxed.

Little Craig's celebrations said it all. He loved it. He meant it. We loved it. And the Mackems knew what it meant. They were gonna get beaten.

Isn't McAteer an idiot? You just want to slap him.
Wake up Jason. You can't play. You're not very good. And the only thing you've done of any worth on a football pitch that I can remember is get Roy Keane sent off which is always entertaining, especially when preceeded by McAteer's "Put it in the book" Cherades game!

Predictably enough it was McAteer who gave away the foul for Nobby to tip to Super Al for a blinding second. Although special thanks must go to Tore Andre Flo for his somewhat loose interpretation of the function of a wall.

Incidentally, I'm worried about Nobby. He's having, shall we say, a bit of a poor spell. It started at Maine Road and is yet to end. He's still trying, but his crossing, passing and decision making are currently leaving a lot to be desired. Come on Nobby, head up!

I reckon that an on-form Newcastle (like much of last season) would have put 4 or 5 past Sunderland on Saturday. All it lacked was the correct final ball or a bit more composure and Sunderland would have crumbled even more than they did. We're not firing on all cylinders yet but we will soon, and then we'll continue our ascension up the league.

Final words of praise go to Andy Griffin who I thought gave another no-nonsense performance at full-back. Let's hope he gets a run in the team finally. I think he's a far better proposition than Mr Bernard. And finally, fair play to Peter Reid. Yes, you read right. His assesment at the end was brutally honest. "We were poor ... we were sad out there.... I can't defend that." Too right Monkey's Heed. Too right.