Before
Nothing could make up for that 5-1 defeat but any kind of win today would pour some soothing balm on the wound. As, for some strange reason, it's not on T.V. I'll be watching it in my head with the help of Radio Newcastle and I think we'll win it. I've just seen that Onuaha will start and that's great news but Catts and Welbeck didn't make it. For them Carroll is out though apart from that, I don't know anything as SAFC.com made no mention of the Newcastle team. Much as I'd love a big win, I think it'll be tight and I fancy us to squeeze it, 2-1.

The Match
It was blood and thunder from the start with Elmo going off for a few minutes with a facial injury and then Best being penalized for an elbow. Ameobi should've scored very early on though soon Bent had a great chance at the other end but Harper saved. They edged the first fifteen minutes but then we began to pressurize and won four corners in quick succession. It continued to go from end to end but our final ball often let us down. Radio Newcastle kept cutting out so I switched to Real Radio and almost at once we had a couple of pieces of good fortune. Alan Smith went off injured, finding time to exchange pleasantries with a few of our fans as he went, and then Barton was yellow-carded. I doubted if we'd finish with twenty-two men on the field.

Ameobi went close with a free header with a few minutes to go and we breathed again. In the dying seconds Steed fouled Ameobi and they got a free-kick near the position where Richardson scored last time around. Barton blasted it over and then three minutes of stoppage-time were announced during which Gyan hit the deck in the box for reasons unknown but nothing was given. It was 0-0 at the break and it had sounded an even game but it could clearly go either way if it continued in the same vein. I was all for replacing Richardson with Zenden and I hoped we could tighten up our defence as Ameobi was finding an alarming amount of space at times.

Seven minutes into the second-half Barton's corner was knocked down and Nolan almost back-heeled it into the net to put them ahead. The commentator informed us that we hadn't come from behind to win a game this season and I rather wish he hadn't. It certainly wasn't looking good for us but with nearly forty minutes left we had time to pull it out of the fire. We sounded stunned for ten minutes or so but a good effort by Elmo woke both us and our fans up a bit. With twenty minutes left it seemed a draw was the best we could hope for. We still hadn't made any changes and apart from Bolo and Reid, I couldn't see anyone on the bench who inspired me much. Shortly afterwards Bolo came on for Onuaha but as the clock ticked down and another final pass went astray frustration grew. Colback came on for Elmo shortly before the end and when five minutes of stoppage-time were announced, it brought a brief surge of hope. It looked like we were going to lose it but deep into extra time a Bardo shot came back off Harper, Gyan equalized and the place went wild.

So, it ended 1-1 and I couldn't hear any booing coming over the airwaves so I imagine that most people felt like me i.e. we didn't play well, we failed to dominate midfield and most of the final passes we managed to make went astray but to deny them victory right at the end was sheer joy. A telling comment was that Bent had been a spectator for most of the second-half and we've got to make sure that doesn't happen again. Well, they've got the better of us this season but a look at the Premier League table does put another angle on it.

…click here

After the Sunderland afc poker chips from the message board, we discovered that there are quite many supporters that actually enjoy playing online poker. A Facebook group dedicated to Sunderland Poker and there is also a Sunderland Poker Society. But before playing poker on-line check if there’s a chance to play for free in a freeroll tournament only for the Black Cats.

ALS T Shirts click here