Neutrals and casual home followers won't flock back to Villa Park after a definite afternoon for them to forget. Even ardent Villans may think twice about witnessing Darlington's visit next Saturday, as the Quakers hope to reach the Fourth Round of the FA Cup despite losing in the second. 

So why did we float away from Villa Park in a state of delirium that rivaled the arrival of Bobby and the Sheffield Wednesday massacre not so long ago? We may have been the victor, football wasn't.

Well, for starters, three points away from home hasn't been enjoyed since April, although that 4-3 win at Pride Park now seems like a lifetime ago. However, for a lot of us the victory seemed to finally signal that an inglorious chapter in this club's chequered history could finally be put to bed. 

That chapter that began on January 11th 1997 at exactly the same venue - our first game back in the top flight without Keegan. The Dalglish and Gullit eras were certainly not without their highs: Five against Forest, Tino's Barca party and the Highfield Road high five were days that will eternally keep the cockles simmering but the Kenny and Ruud stewardships will entice an inward squirm that might rival the mention of McGarry and McFaul. 

It's that feeling of sinking ever further into quicksand - the flailing of arms being token gestures as the body slips ever further into the mire....

This is where Bobby had it made when he charmingly waved his hanky at the press back in August. He had nothing to live up to. Not expected to give Man United a run for their millions this season, he was tasked merely with clawing back seven or eight points from Watford, Bradford City, Derby County et al. Nice work if you can get it. I dare say even Ruud might have kept us up had we beaten the Mackems and had he wisely spent the £10m received for punting Shearer and Lee.

But that's missing the point. Bobby's arrival has restored something that most Geordies hold most dear - their pride. We left Villa Park with our neck muscles flexing as the locals bowed their brows towards their boots. It didn't matter that toes and minds were numbed by inclement weather and two indifferent Premiership performances. This was a victory of spirit - the kind that John Gregory had inspired when he took over from Brian Little not so long ago.

Fitting then, that our hero was to be a man whose recent fortunes have mirrored his new club's. Big Dunc's own Phoenix impression was complete when he replaced a certain tumbling Croatian after 58 minutes. It was similar to the Spurs semi-final last year when the mere introduction of the Big Man lifted the team and supporters to wring out a victory in this tightest of contests. 

His header was simple enough but Solano's urgency and Ketsbaia's determined delivery of the cross had been missing up to that point. Calderwood was the rabbit in the headlights and David James was the flattened remains as the Caledonian Claymore thundered his header into the corner.

Because of the other sterile 89 minutes, celebrations were suitably unrestrained - the only parameters being the limited legroom which some severely gashed and bruised shins will testify.

Over fifty years of accumulated football knowledge had led your correspondents to believe that Villa's midweek 4-0 thumping of Southampton here in the League Cup was a good thing. Screwdriver activity on Manager's doors is usually a bad sign for the opposition and so had the Saints hastened Gregory's demise, then we would almost certainly have suffered.

Old boy Steve Watson was a surprise omission given that he had "opened his account" for Villa three days earlier. However, a training ground hamstring strain proved a good omen for us - he was also in the stands when we won our last Premiership game at Derby. 

The architect of our opening day defeat at St. James' Park - Lee Hendrie not Uriah Rennie - then left the pitch after just seven minutes when he came off worst in a challenge with Temuri Ketsbaia. This was also good news for Alan Shearer who now had someone to share the boos with....

Other sources of worry - the nippy Julian Joachim and clinical Dion Dublin both had off days. Franck Dumas matched Joachim's pace and Dublin limped off with an alleged leg injury although he clearly just didn't fancy it today. Mind, the arrival of Benito Carbone did little to calm the nerves and his header near the end brought out a dive from Steve Harper usually only performed by rigid keepers on the end of big plastic sticks - Steve's Subbuteo custodian impression was a belter.

Two Geordies started on the bench for Villa and both Alan Thompson and Steve Stone ended the game in danger of finding splinters in their rears. However, Thompson had resumed his place in the dugout after Paul Merson replaced him despite coming on for the injured Hendrie. 

Hopefully, Thompson was uninjured not because I want to see a Geordie "do well" but just that being subbed when you're a sub is pretty embarrassing....

Snow flurries were more of a threat to our victory than Villa's attempts to equalise. Even a late free kick on the edge of our box didn't make it past the wall. And so we had plundered maximum points from a side beaten just once at home this season. Shearer and Harper looked ecstatic as they left the field and Barton and Speed were also obviously delighted to have returned from suspension. 

Special mention also to a back three of Dumas, Helder and Dabizas: resolute and determined to leave our goal intact. Lee performed similarly in midfield and Solano and Pistone also tackled occasionally with Ketsbaia running himself daft as usual. Only Maric could look back with some shame, although his ability to concede free-kicks as he is himself bundled over seems to be nearing perfection.

Seven games, four victories and two draws is a decent record at one of the Premiership's bigger grounds - only Ruud Gullit has presided over a pointless trip to Villa Park. His successor left with some kind words for his struggling counterpart but as Gregory and Gullit will testify, the press and public love to see a big club struggle. 

Thankfully this no longer seems to be our role.