I was on row PP, that's at the very back, in seat1 - which for some odd reason was right in the middle - and all around me the Bluenoses were in fine voice. The rather large Leicester fan with the drum was getting plenty of stick and it was nice to see that the stewards weren't being anal about people standing for a change.
I wasn't overly confident about getting a result; you only had to look at our record against teams in the bottom half to see why, although under Bruce Blues have a fantastic record in local derbies. A few more than normal had made the short trip across the Midlands, Vinny even choosing to bring his wife and kids! (I say short trip, but it actually took me longer to get home from than Barnsley!!)
The atmosphere from the away corner packed with over 3000 Blues fans drifted onto the pitch and it looked like it spurred the players on because in my opinion the 1st half was the best 45 mins of football I'd seen us play in a long time.
As McSheffrey was about to curl in a corner, Ben - who was stood next to me - told me to prepare to celebrate. Ball comes in, up goes Jaidi, 1-0!! Before we'd finished jumping up and down and congratulating Ben on a good call - Andrew Cole broke forward with the ball, brushed off the defenders shirt grabbing challenge and played the ball across to Seb Larsson who coolly slotted home, 2-0! We were in raptures. The fans sang loudly and we could all see a chink of light glowing through the door to the promise land.
You have to give credit to Steve Bruce for the signing of Mr Cole. I'm sure many like me rolled their eyes at the thought of another 'old timer' coming to us to take a wage without a care for the club, but I'm sure you'll agree with me that he seems to have had a massive impact since his introduction into the starting line up.
We should have been out of sight by half time as we ran Leicester ragged in the first 45 mins but this being Blues that didn't happen and we had to endure another nervy last half an hour of a game.
Geoff Horsfield came on as a sub and turned the game for them. The reception he got from the travelling fans was heart-warming, there can't be too many players around who would get that from a former clubs fans and all credit to the Bluenoses for that. (Horsfield is a Bluenose, Horsfield is a Bluenose, la la la la)
Leicester did exactly what the Saints had done on Saturday and pulled one back late on to ensure every Blues fans ended the night with a slightly faster heart rate and less nails on our fingers than we started with.
But the 2-1 win had put us 2nd, and that's all we cared about, and we'd finally gotten rid of that damned game in hand! The standing ovation the players got at the final whistle was immense and the players applauded in appreciation. In all fairness, those fans deserve the credit. The last 2 away games have seen nearly 10,000 of us travel to watch the lads.
The journey home may have been a pain in the neck because of the traffic but it was well worth it. There's something magical about winning away from home, even more so when that win puts you 2nd with 3 to play.
So next it was on to the Dog-Heads for another one of those horrible Sunday lunchtime kick-offs. Another local derby and another must win game after Derby had leapfrogged us yet again on Friday by beating struggling Luton.
I said before the game that I'd take the point that would have been enough to see us back into 2nd place on goal difference, although in my heart I was desperate for another win.
Just in case the players needed any more motivation for the Wolves game, Sunderland went and got beaten emphatically at Layer Road on Saturday meaning a win in Dingleland would put us top.
As with the Albion game a few weeks before I'd gone to Wolves as a director's guest. Now don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful for the invite, and honoured to be rubbing shoulders with the big wigs, but boy oh boy, how much did I want to be stood with the Noses when Colin Doyle saved that penalty?
I've followed Blues all around the country this season, and I've been at every home game, witnessing some pitiful football at times, even on occasions when we've won, but it has to be said that Sunday was a cracking game. Thanks in no small part to Wolves' willingness to go for the win, and let's not be one eyed about it, they played well and were desperately unlucky not to walk away with all 3 points.
But it makes no difference who was the better side; the only thing that matters is the final score, and if I'm not mistaken it finished 3-2 to Blues.
It was great to see (Sir) Mr Cole net his first Blues goal, it was great to see Nik Bendtners Bullet header and it was indescribable to see CJ net the winner, (how many of us were screaming at him to square it?) but how about a round of applause for Colin Doyle? He made three or four world class saves in the first half and of course saved the penalty, although it has to be said I think my Nan would have saved what was a very poor spot kick. I was proud of the players for the way they fought back from being 2-1 down, coming from behind to win games isn't something we've managed to do a lot this season.
I do however have to agree with Mick McCarthy, because the referee on Sunday was without doubt the worst official ever to take charge of a professional football match. He seemed to be absolutely clueless, and after he turned down Wolves appeals for a late penalty and was berated by the dingle fans, he seemed obsessively intent on giving them every other decision that warranted a thought. So much so that he awarded them the most least likely penalty of the day, despite the fact he'd waved away two stick-on pens before that.
But… when all's said and done it was a great day. I laughed a lot, mainly due to some rather humorous incidents that took place before we'd even got into the ground. None funnier than when we asked a Wolves steward for directions to our designated car park and he felt the need to tell us the following….. "Turn left here, and you'll come to some traffic lights, wait for them to turn green…." Hilarious!! (Russ, you were fighting a losing battle mate!)
Many, many thanks to the Blues lads for looking after me on the day, and I hope I didn't embarrass you by being too loud at times, I shouted so much that I ended the day with a sand-paper voice that Rod Stewart would have been proud of.
We sit at the top of the table tonight with 2 games left. It really doesn't matter what anybody else does now, as long as we win our games we'll be champions! That amazes me, because like many Blues fans that walked out of Oakwell at Easter, I thought it was all over. There's still plenty to do, but you couldn't ask for much more than being top at this stage.
As usual I'm going to finish with some messages. I have to mention the new boy Dave, 100% record mate, quality! To Gemma at Wolves, thanks for looking after us on Sunday, especially the massive bangers and bacon baps for breakfast. To Adrian and Russ, I bet you never thought I'd beat your challenge this week?!! To Sadie, I'm sorry to hear that you're leaving. To My wife Sharon, thanks for understanding why I got twisted drunk on Sunday night and lastly, but most importantly, to the man whose name I can't mention, I know just how much that meant to you on Sunday mate and I was as chuffed for you as I was for myself.
Nearly There.
Keep Right On.
Dax.