by Martin Spinks
martin.spinks@thesentinel.co.uk

NOT a scoreline or an occasion to rank readily, you might think, alongside Chelsea 1972, Notts County 1979, Brentford 2002 or Leicester 2008.

But subsequent results might just show this to be the fixture in which Stoke City secured their Premier League status against all predictions and expectations from the wider footballing world.

It may have lacked the pomp and drama of those famous diary dates from the club’s recent past, but not the passion, as supporters celebrated on Saturday as if this was the victory that finally did it.

We shall see.

It was a reassuringly routine win, after despatching Blackburn the same way as eight Premier League brethren already this season.

The Britannia Stadium has become such a voracious killing ground for Stoke – 32 of their 39 points have now been collected there – that victories in their last two home fixtures against West Ham and Wigan may even leave them with enough points at HQ alone to have avoided the drop.

Incredible – and a lasting testament to the sheer bloody-minded resistance put up jointly by players and supporters over the past nine months to transform their stadium into a colliseum.

Defeating fellow strugglers Bolton, Middlesbrough, West Brom and now Blackburn in recent weeks, together with avoiding defeat to Portsmouth and Newcastle, has all but jettisoned that season-long threat of relegation now.

Only a capitulation of calamitous proportions – together with the unlikely sight of at least three clubs in reverse suddenly hitting top gear – can topple Stoke from this unforeseen vantage point they now enjoy with five games left.

And there now exists a five-point lead over Hull, a club in whose shadow Stoke have laboured diplomatically for so long since they both won promotion.

The national media never tired of telling us how much they loved their tiger feat, before seeing them sink ever deeper into the mud after winning just once since December.

Those already tempted to begin planning Stoke’s second Premier League campaign might now
be minded to pray for Hull’s survival so as to ensure the existence of a bona fide relegation candidate for next season.

Stoke’s catalogue of home wins has invariably propelled some individual to the fore from an otherwise largely 11-man triumph and, on this occasion, it was Liam Lawrence taking a rare bow after his injury-ravaged season.

His revival has come far too late for him to retain his player-of-the-year trophy, but consistent repeats of Saturday’s showing will persuade his manager that a new right winger is nowhere near the top of his summer shopping list.

This was Lawrence back to his energised and confident best as he begged relentlessly for the chance to puncture holes in a resolute Blackburn defence.

His defensive endeavours in his own half, his crossing in Blackburn’s, and his vibrant link up play in both were encouraging reminders of the player who returned from a lesser injury to inspire promotion this time last year.

It was his 55th minute thunderbolt, an audacious attempt betraying his self-confidence, which provoked the day’s only save, when Paul Robinson palmed over what he might have anticipated would have been a cross instead.

And it was Lawrence, almost inevitably in hindsight, breaking the deadlock 20 minutes later when James Beattie had flicked on Danny Higginbotham’s cross from the left to leave
City’s match-winner cutting inside his marker from beyond the far post and drilling home via Robinson’s flimsily outstretched hand.

“I was going to take it first time and see if I could take it across Robinson,” he recalled afterwards. “But I brought it inside the defender and then shot early, which seemed to surprise Robinson.”

It was only his second goal of the season, his first since netting Stoke’s very first on home soil back in August, and provided him with a glorious moment to erase the memory of that hard slog back to fitness.

“I’ve been out twice as long as a pre-season,” he reflected ruefully, “so it has been hard for me. To even miss one month, you need two or three games to get your form back.”

And Stoke’s probable survival has helped him lay to rest another ghost after suffering a humiliating relegation in a lost cause at Sunderland three seasons ago.

“At Sunderland, it was a bad year and it was horrible. To be doing it again this year and giving a good account of ourselves, and myself personally, it proves people wrong, especially those who said I can’t do it in the Premiership.

“It’s been fantastic. There’s a great set of lads here who work hard for each other and do the basics right. If we get beaten, we dust ourselves off and give it everything again. That’s how it is with this manager and these players.

“We’ve got written off, like we were in the Championship. They can keep doing it, as long as we stay in the Premiership.”

Lawrence’s exuberance on the field typified the spirit that was to underpin yet another familiar scenario at the Britannia that will only have disappointed any neutrals and visiting media turning up and mysteriously expecting to see a dash of Arsenal, a sprig of
Real Madrid and a tasty Brazilian dressing.

For the rest, it was pie and mushy peas, and very often a soggy pie and cold peas at that, as these two slugged out the kind of tense and physical contest befitting a bottom-of-the-table fixture.

The only pity was the shortage of genuine goalmouth excitement as Blackburn defended a barrage of long throws and several corners with an organisation and determination eluding more celebrated visitors to these parts.

Rovers had mercifully little to offer in attack, despite Sam Allardyce’s futile attempts to rouse his forlorn players when 1-0 down, and Thomas Sorensen’s only save came in the first half when he reacted with almost casual ease to prevent Abdoulaye Faye glancing past him following a needless intervention.

Given Faye’s stature, both physical and spiritual, we can safely assume any own goal would have left Sorensen registering his displeasure in Danish, not English, and most certainly not French.

Other Stoke City stories:
Let’s go for mid-table, says Lawrence
Martin Smith: These are great times to be a Stokie
Bullish Sorensen pledges to end season on a high
Pulis says life begins at 40 for Potters stars
Allardyce sings praises of loud and proud home fans
Pressure is on Rovers at end of tough year
Simon Lowe: ‘Demi-god’ Abdy is our heartbeat
Lawrence back to best to put Potters on the brink
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