NINE years ago, City fans descended on Blackburn in their hordes, determined to see a new Blue moon rising above the moors.

They got their wish. City stormed to victory and promotion back to the Premier League, and the ticketless fans stationed on the hill did roly-polies down the slope in their joy.

It was a false dawn, something to which City fans have become accustomed, but the 7,000-plus Blues fans who made the trip this time may just have witnessed a true dawn.

There were rough edges to knock off, and plenty of things to polish, and the need for one or two additions to the squad was still evident.

Still, it was the kind of result, and dogged performance, of which City were largely incapable throughout last season.

The last time City could lay claim to being at the pinnacle English football, man was landing on the moon for the first time.

This summer it has been the City fans who have felt like they were sitting atop a rocket, aimed at the stars and impatient for the final countdown. They have been barely able to contain their excitement as the engines surged with every new signing, and every new rumour.

City excitement

Of course, those supporters who have seen the let-downs and the muck-ups over the years cast a sardonic eye at proceedings and expected engine failure, or a sudden downpour to extinguish the blue touchpaper's flame.

But at Ewood Park, the lift-off was as smooth and efficient as you could hope for on an opening day in such a hostile place.

Debutant Emmanuel Adebayor lit the fuse with a thumping counter-attacking goal which instantly wiped out the worries to which his indifferent pre-season form had given rise.

After a Blackburn attack had been halted, Shaun Wright-Phillips led the charge to the other end and they neatly waited until Adebayor was racing into position.

A neat, rolled pass and whip-lash connection from the Togo international, and England's Paul Robinson could not keep it out despite reaching the ball with his fingertips.

City braced themselves for the inevitable Rovers storm, which would test the work which Mark Hughes and his staff have been doing with their team during the summer.

Rovers' David Dunn had threatened to "kick lumps" out of City, a traditional Blackburn greeting. In the end, he was left chewing lumps out of the physio's table as injury ruled him out, and City stood up to his team's muscular aerial football.

Typically, there were some heart-stopping moments but City scrapped it out - Shay Given enhancing his reputation as one of the best shot-stoppers around, capping it all with a brilliant diving save from a Chris Samba header.

With Richard Dunne blocking and tackling for all his worth, and Kolo Toure adding the touch of defensive quality and experience which has been needed, it was stirring stuff.

Barry master-class

Gareth Barry came up with a master-class of how to play in front of the back four, and Wright-Phillips and Craig Bellamy were willing and pacy enough to make the Blues a potent threat on the counter.

Robinho remains an enigma away from home.

At times, you want his team-mates zest and work-rate to rub off on him, but then he will produce a spark of magic, or a burst of pace which makes his shortcomings forgivable.

Still, he was the man who made way for another debutant, Carlos Tevez, to add his own brand of hard-running, smooth-flowing football to the mix.

With one goal in it, there was always a chance that Rovers' increasingly desperate long-ball tactics might just provide them with a lucky break for an equaliser.

City flattened their hopes as the game moved into injury time, catching Blackburn committed forward and exhausted from chasing the Blues' possession football.

Wright-Phillips slipped a cute pass through to Stevie Ireland - curiously out of sorts, but never shirking his responsibility - and he staged a grand finish.

With defenders scrambling back to cover, the midfielder dillied and dallied on the ball like a dad playing with his kids in the park, as Adebayor screamed for it to his right.

Perhaps the striker's vocal demands swayed the defence the wrong way, because Ireland suddenly spotted a clear path into the goal, and promptly stroked the ball along it.

A thrilling goal to start, an impish one to finish, and plenty to admire in between.

The journey ahead is long and hazardous for City, and will not be for the faint of heart.

But perhaps the most encouraging thing about this opening-day victory is that it was achieved without ever hitting top gear.

What is your verdict? Have your say.