Emphatic? No… High in quality? No… Deserved? Just… A win? Yep…
And that will do for now. Saturday evening certainly passed a lot more pleasantly on the back of a City victory and an Ipswich hammering; the rightful order had been restored.
Stan's certainly not going to start swinging (Ooh, matron!) from deep pessimism to wild optimism on the back of Saturday's result, but a win gives an entirely different spin to how all of us view the footballing landscape.
It was also lovely to get one over on Tango Jordan who I'm sure took the 1-0 reverse with customary good grace.
Over recent seasons there does seem to have been a bit of niggle between the two clubs. Stan can't remember this being the case in his now distant youth so can only assume it all started with the Eadie/Muscatt inspired brawl in the 90s and was compounded by subsequent histrionics of sniper-victim Johnson.
It may also have something to do with a growing resentment at the seemingly numerous wasted trips to the a*se-end of South London to pay a fortune to watch us getting turned over by the mighty Eagles?Come to think of it why the hell are they called The Eagles?
In light of this new 'history' there seemed to be very little vitriol or venom on display on Saturday afternoon. There was a bit of cynicism in dealing with Hucks and Dickov was nasty, but then he is regardless of who he is playing for.
Apart from that for the majority of the afternoon two similar sized clubs and similar quality squads locked horns, whilst the Lower Barclay snoozed in the autumn sunshine.
Grant had had his customary little tinker to get us talking?'That's interesting, he's playing with two left-backs!' But all became clear?-ish, eventually.
Lappin's inclusion in the middle of the park seemed rather odd considering the one thing most people seem to agree on is that Grant has assembled a team where round pegs fit round holes.
Admittedly if Lappin is omitted you lose his delivery at set-plays, but he did look a bit lost at times. The other problem that Stan spotted with this little plan is that because he is left-footed it makes the pass out wide to Hucks that much more difficult.
It probably explains why Hucks stood in acres of space waving his arms frantically for periods of the game.
On the other side of the pitch, Johnny O linked well with Chadders and two of the best early chances came about as a direct result of this combination. Centre-half pairing and subsequent clean sheet merely proved further the importance of Dublin; he continues to ooze quality in everything he does.
To prove the point, 'fresh' from the exertions of marshalling the back four he was then on hand to tee up Dave Strika for the winner.
Russell was also excellent in the middle. There were touches of Holt at his best in the ground that Rusty covered. He didn't allow Palace a moment on the ball and tracked back when needed, with urgency, from the first minute to the last.
Poor old Brown also gave his all whilst never remotely looking like scoring. Stan can only suggest that the club's sports psychologist gives him a mantra to repeat in the weeks ahead. 'The goal is not a cow's a*se…the ball is not a banjo…the goal is not a cow's ar…'
In his infinite and smug wisdom Stan did say at the start of the season that Dave Strika shouldn't be judged until October at the earliest.
It's a big ask of anyone to slot into a team, let alone someone who is doesn't speak a word of English, so it was extremely gratifying to see him steal in front of his man to slot home and judging by his subsequent celebrations, it obviously meant a huge amount to him and his team-mates. And that could well be the key.
For whilst it is blatantly obvious that Grant cares, a bit too much at times, you can never be sure about his charges.
But judging by that goal celebration maybe they do care as much as their boss, maybe they do love the club, maybe the final piece of the jigsaw has been found, maybe we are on the brink of a ten-game winning streak?
'Champions..! Champions..!' Er, sorry… Stan forgot himself for a moment there!
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