Wise Men say: Bournemouth win doesn't paper over cracks '“ but enjoy the now

Sunderland’s victory away to Bournemouth was truly a thing of beauty.

That burst of euphoria upon the sound of the final whistle, that outpouring of passion tinged with a breathless feeling of relief.

That unbound joy that sees you grab a complete stranger next to you in the ground or in the pub and embrace as you share that special moment, and a brief unspoken bond with your fellow supporter.

‘It’s only a game they say,’ and so it is.

‘There are much more important things in life than football’ is again difficult to argue with.

But I genuinely believe that sport gives us opportunities to transcend the here and now, to stand on the shoulders of giants for however brief a time.

To feel, that just for one fleeting moment, you can forget everything else and just bask in a Sunderland success.

So is everything rosy in the garden after just one victory?

Of course not.

Perhaps only in those briefest moments of jubilation you can kid yourself that we are in for anything other than a season of struggle.

That has been made abundantly clear in the evidence we have seen so far this term, and a victory over Bournemouth won’t paper over the cracks.

But then no one has said it should.

Sunderland still had defensive issues at the weekend – Patrick van Aanholt being caught badly out of position again, in my opinion, for the Cherries’ goal.

But for me, possibly more worrying is our tendency going forward to blunt our own attacks.

Far too often, a poor pass, a bad decision by one of our players or lack of ability sees Sunderland do the defensive work for the opposition.

Too many times we seem to run down a blind alley or into a raft of bodies when a simpler option is missed.

Recently I wrote in this column that ‘something is rotten in the state of Sunderland,’ and the kind of destructive cycle the club has become embroiled in won’t be rectified by one win.

Much has been made this week about the Black Cats’ finances, or rather lack of them.

So basically, there’s very little if anything to spend to turn things around, we are locked in another relegation battle, and, in the main, much of the football we have played this season has been dreadful.

And yet, we keep going back for more punishment.

Wins like the one over Bournemouth may not ease all of the pain being felt by Sunderland fans at the moment.

But it does give you that briefest sense of hope, that little half-promise of better things.

No one is getting carried away, but let’s discard the sackcloth and ashes, and enjoy the now.

Until Hull City come to the Stadium of Light, at the very least.