Some poor bastard was killed in a car crash on the M8 at lunchtime this afternoon. The aftermath of the accident left the motorway closed for most of the afternoon with traffic clogged for hours. Ma missus had kindly agreed tae take me tae the game so was suitably pissed off when we got caught up in it all. The police diversion did little to improve her mood as, instead of heading towards Coatbridge, we ended up driving towards Stirling. Linlithgow, Grangemouth, Falkirk - all came and went; we eventually headed back south and, after turning off at Moodiesburn (Moozburn as Cun Bun used tae call it), Mrs Commander finally dropped me off at twenty past four.

You have to admire the sense of humour of the security boy at the gate. "Of course you can come in - by this time we only charge for folk tae get oot!" Mildly amusing, I had to admit, but the guy blew it when he then tried to tell me that his mob were two up. Right....

Gettin' in at this stage for fuck all appeared to be the best deal of the weekend From what the guys told me, it had been a fairly dreich affair right up until the hour mark when Dougie opened the scoring, ably assisted by Bobby Linn. Mind you, it looked like I'd really put a curse on things - just after I got maself settled and pretty much against the run of second half play, the Rovers went up the park and scored.

Twenty minutes tae go and now we'd be able to see if Baikie and the boys had learned anything in our last two (disastrous) outings. Thankfully, the answer was a resounding YES. If we'd looked iffy after conceding in our last two games, today was an altogether more encouraging response. Rather than letting our heads go down, the boys simply brushed themselves down and concentrated on getting our lead back.

I might have only caught the last quarter of this one but it was more than enough for me to give Paul Stewart the man of the match award. He was to make all the difference in the final ten minutes of the game, firstly setting up (well, ok, he was really havin' a pop himself....) Craig O'Reilly (who, by all accounts had had a screamer of a second half - glad to hear it, Craig) after a great run (and combining brilliantly with Lloyd Young). Then, in an almost identical move, he gifted a perfect opportunity for Kevin Gordon who, with his first touch after replacing Bobby Linn, was happy to double his tally for the season.

There was even time left for Stewart to grab a goal for himself, this time Craig O'Reilly turning provider. As the Rovers' defence did its very best tae fall to pieces it was a straightforward enough move and quite fitting that Stewart should be there to slip it away low past their dispairing keeper from just inside the box. The guy puts in great shifts week after week so it was grand seeing him bang one away - certainly won't do his confidence any harm.

And even though it took a while to break down the Rovers, it will be a huge boost tae all the boys. All the talk of the Christmas Crisis (or whatever you might want to call it) would inevitably have been hanging over every one of them. To see them come out today and confidently grab all three points will do them all a power of good. And, perhaps just as important, settle the nerves a more than a few of the fans.

With Stranraer not playing today and headed for Bayview on Wednesday, we're now twelve points ahead again. Once we win that one we'll actually be in a better position than we were before the festive programme (albeit that the Blues will have a game in hand). It's a fuckin' great game - just three days ago it was all doom, gloom and despair. Tonight we're back on track and feeling on top of the world! I can never remember a time when I wasn't glad to leave Coatbridge (sorry, Jones) but a forty minute visit and departure with all three points is a perfect way to end the year. All the best; see you all again on Wednesday - promise I'll be there for the whole game!!

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