Rowell: Bolton blast was fantastic
The world seemed a better place in the last couple of days and there was one reason for it: Sunderland 4 Bolton 0.
It is so good to be able to start off this column on a positive note because there has been so little to be cheerful about in the last few weeks.
It is amazing how the whole outlook changes when your team wins.
We all know Sunderland aren't yet out of the woods. Far from it.
But the miserable winless run is over and for the first time in a while, fans will be looking forward to the game coming round against Manchester City on Sunday.
The key to the whole thing on Tuesday was the opening goal coming so early.
Scoring after 41 seconds still left a lot of football to be played, but unlike the Fulham game that preceded it – when Sunderland's football became increasingly desperate, direct and aimless – Fraizer Campbell's early strike provided the platform for the team to play its football.
It lifted the pressure on and off the pitch.
The second goal – Darren Bent's first – was another huge moment in the match because it really killed off Bolton, who had started the second half brightly without threatening our goal too much.
Every department of the team worked on Tuesday.
Up front, Darren Bent got his hat-trick and Kenwyne Jones was unlucky not to have a goal to show for a hard-working and accomplished performance.
In midfield, Steed Malbranque scurried around at his terrier-like best, Fraizer Campbell got his first Premier League goal for the club and Lorik Cana looked back to his best alongside Lee Cattermole, who created one of the goals.
We had that rarest of treats in defence … an unchanged back four.
They looked very solid and a second clean sheet in a row will hopefully work wonders for their confidence.
It was known before the game that Steve Bruce was going to meet owner Ellis Short after the game and that meeting must have been a whole lot happier after a 4-0 win.
Fourteen games without a win were awful to endure. There were times when Sunderland should have got the three points, but the magnitude and style of Tuesday's victory is a massive boost.
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Weather for Sunderland
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Light sleet showers
Temperature: -1 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 1 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: West
