At last a win! In front of new manager Roy Keane, Sunderland comfortably beat West Bromwich Albion 2-0 at the SOL this afternoon.

In what has become big Niall’s last game in charge £1.7m signing Tobias Hysen came into the team to add some much needed balance to the midfield and there was also recalls for Liam Lawrence and Chris Brown.

With Kevin Phillips opting to join WBA last week he had to make do with a place on the bench on his return to the SOL.

Sunderland started the game well winning a succession of corners with the instrumental Leadbitter at the fore front of most attacks.

WBA looked shaky defending the corners but managed to scramble the ball away on both occasions.

Another break from the lads saw Liam Lawrence hit a shot well over.

New boy Tobias Hysen had a great chance to mark his debut with a goal when he was found by Chris Brown’s cross just outside the six yard box. However Hysen’s side footed effort struck the outside of the post.

As Sunderland continued to dominate Hysen showed confidence to hit a left footed shot from well outside the box. Though it was well hit struck it was also well over.

With the goal looking elusive it was Grant Leadbitter's turn to try and find the target after he and Stephen Elliott broke through the middle. Leadbitter’s shot was saved and Hysen's follow up effort deflected wide.

After winning yet another corner Sunderland took the lead in bizarre fashion when Whitehead’s corner deceived their keeper and curled straight in. A split second of uncertainty was laid to rest when the linesman signalled for the goal.

Sunderland ended the half on the back foot with WBA having a free kick in a dangerous position but the shot was straight into the wall and the second effort sliced wide.

During the first half it must be mentioned that Kevin Phillips was given a mixed reception when warming up on the touchline.

It wasn’t long before he was introduced with WBA struggling but his first task was to kick off again as Sunderland doubled their lead thanks to a header from Neill Collins.

The lads won a free kick down the right hand side which Hysen crossed over to find the head of the unmarked defender.

At 2-0 we were cruising and in total control of the game. Though we weren’t bombing forward we were never really tested at the back which was strange considering the quality of WBA’s forward line.

Hysen, who looks good acquisition, had the ball in the net after going clean through but he was ruled offside. He was replaced by Murphy soon after but turned in a good display with hopefully more to come as he gets fitter.

West Brom had two decent chances late on. Hartson headed just wide before Phillips found space in the box after Neill Collins had lost possession. However before Phillips had time to pounce Cunningham had nicked the ball strongly off his toe.

Four minutes of injury time were played to make us wait even longer for our first win of the season but this allowed crowd favourite Nyron Nosworthy to make his return from injury.

When the whistle went a big roar went up in the SOL. Get in.

A really good performance by the lads with no one hiding or shirking challenges something Keane will no doubt demand.

As with anything though there will always be room for improvement so it will be interesting to see if we can get in any new faces before the transfer deadline ends on Wednesday.

Man of the Match: Chris Brown just shades it ahead of Grant Leadbitter. – Made a big difference up front holding the ball up for the midfield.

Final Score: Sunderland 2 West Brom 0

Aidan Crowe

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