A week is a long time in politics, so runs the ages-old proverb. It is also a lengthy time period for struggling football clubs, providing as it does the scope for despair to be transformed into hope. The Tigers entered the Burnley game just a few short days ago with the outlook bleak; two games either side of the New Year have seen us enter 2007 with genuine cause for optimism.

Phil Brown latest audition for the manager’s job at The Circle saw him name an unchanged side from the weekend as the Tigers carded: Myhill; France, Delaney, Turner, Dawson; Marney, Livermore, Ashbee, Fagan; Parkin, Barmby.

The weather in S6 was quite terrible, the Tiger Nation drenched by a South Yorkshire monsoon before the game. It made for a slick, sodden greensward but City came to terms with the problematic conditions much earlier than their high-flying opponents. That said, our hosts – who no longer open proceedings by declaring Hillsborough to be home of Premiership football in Sheffield – had the first chance, a smart parry by Myhill denying Glenn Whelan.

However, City were passing the ball with greater purpose, and nine minutes into the game took the lead. It came in debateable circumstances, to say the least – a ball by Dawson found its way to Nick Barmby, who ever from 130 yards appeared to be stood some way offside. However, the referee played on when no flag appeared, and Barmby’s finish past Crossley was judged legal to spark early pandemonium among the East Yorkshire contingent.

It was all City in the early stages, with Parkin having a pair of chances to double our advantage – a looping header being desperately pawed about by Crossley, and an opportunity a minute later being blazed over. Still the Tigers came, with Fagan bounding into space but seeing his shot from a tight angle kicked away by the home keeper.

Gradually, the home side came into the match, doubtless considering themselves fortunate to be in a game that could have been settled within the first 20 minutes. Their first real chance came when Burton tore through an unusually hesitant City defence, but Myhill smartly blocked his shot and the covering Turner hacked the ball to safety. Simek then sent a shot narrowly wide as the half came to a quiet and thankfully less rainy end, with Wednesday controlling possession better than at any stage without finding a way of getting through the steely duo of Delaney and Turner, to the manifest annoyance of the otherwise subdued home support.

Half-time arrived with no further alarms for the Tigers, and the players trooped off in the steady drizzle to a superb ovation by the City fans, who then dived to buy warming refreshment and wring clothing dry – your humble correspondent managing to extract several gallons of rainwater from a coat that had seemingly doubled in weight during a half-hour walk to the stadium.

Out came the sides, with the infamously incontinent imbecile Laws having evidently delivered a few harsh words to his side as they started the second half in a brisk fashion. Eight minutes in, they equalised when Deon Burton skipped through a few half-hearted challenges 30 yards from goal, moved forward and cracked a great low shot past Myhill. A disappointing way to lose the lead, even if it was a good finish.

But what is this? Sheffield Wednesday – a grand old club, possessors of one of the best old grounds in the country, a club with a stout Yorkshire tradition, yet do I hear the hateful practice of music after a goal being practiced here, of all places? Gentle reader, I fear we do. What a repellent way for a club to hand over a hundred-year sense of pride. Their fans cravenly capered like gibbering idiots in open complicity. What a terrible sight. What a great pity. Their standing is fatally diminished by this.

Justice was to be done, although it did not seem too likely when Boaz Myhill crumpled to the turf at the far end and hobbled off to be replaced by Duke. And with Wednesday looking as good as at any point during the game and City rocking, a point might well have been taken by many of the City fans present.

Pah! How we now scoff at such limited aspiration. How we deride such lowly ambition. With the home side sensing a victory that would take them to the edge of the play-offs, the Tigers re-took the lead. A David Livermore free-kick from the right was sent in beyond the home defence, where Barmby forced the ball home to cause utter chaos in the upper tier of the Leppings Lane end. The Sheffield players appealed perfunctorily for a handball, but their protests were in vain, the Tigers led once more and another memorable Hillsborough victory came thrilling into vision.

It rather knocked the stuffing out of Wednesday, who’d struggled for fluency all afternoon. City grew in stature, visibly puffing out their chests and resolving that a win that could lift us to the promised land of, err, 21^st would not be squandered. Barmby was withdrawn on 72 minutes to a terrific din of acclaim, Stephen McPhee jogging on when many thought the lumbering Beast ought to have been taken off.

No matter – even Sheffield’s best efforts were repelled by the quite outstanding Turner, having arguably his best game in a City shirt, and the alert sweeping skills of The Duke. Burton O’Brien was replaced by Tommy Spurr as the bladderly-deficient one sought to give his side a chance of snatching a point. City continued to hold firm, with Fagan now leading the line splendidly, his willingness to close down full-backs and chase long balls offering a priceless outlet.

Parkin was cautioned for an absurdly clumsy challenge as Wednesday pressed as the game rolled agonising towards the end, and he was substituted swiftly afterwards with Danny Coles sent on to lead the line. The referee elicited groans of foreboding from the Tiger Nation upon directing the fourth official to announce five minutes in injury time, but despite a couple of corners – one of which Mark Crossley hefted up front for – City were not for budging, and held out for a marvellous victory.

Gosh, doesn’t the world seem a happier place now? Despite victories for Southend, QPR and the White Shite, defeat for Barnsley elevated City to 21^st, our highest placing since November. With a week off for the Cup and then a number of winnable fixtures arriving in swift succession, plus the likely appointment of Phil Brown and the hopeful retention of Craig Fagan and Boaz Myhill, the situation has swung rapidly in our favour. And while the situation remains critical, with only a point cushioning us from the bottom three, the sudden infusion of spirit and creativity into our play offers real hope that the season will not end in disaster. (AD)