And so it begins. The start of the 2011-12 campaign is upon us and it started with the Lads making a short trip down to York to get their pre-season underway.

About 2500 of us flocked down to Bootham Crescent to see the game, and we all left happy with Sunderland comfortably winning 2-1. Two good first-half goals from last year’s Player of the Season, Phil Bardsley and young French striker Oumare Tounkara were enough to overcome a spirited York side.

It was a good day out, wasn’t too long in the car, the atmosphere was excellent and the pie I had was tremendous, although, one disappointment was the lack of new faces on show.

With the exception of Craig Gardener, Steve Bruce had said that he wouldn’t be playing any of the new lads so it was down to the old guard to remind us that they’ve still got it.

We lined up like this
Mingolet
Ferdinand Turner Bramble Bardsley
Malbranque Cattermole [C] Colback Gardener
Richardson
Tounkra

With us looking very dapper in our new away kit, York probably had the better of the early exchanges. They whipped in a few dangerous corners, but we defended them easily.

But the home side couldn’t press home an advantage, and we made them pay about ten minutes later. Rico broke well, playing a tidy little ball to Bardo and Scotland’s greatest defender cut inside and lashed one in the bottom corner from about 15 yards out, giving the keeper no chance. Great strike, 1-0.

The early goal settled us well. We sprayed the ball round well and Rico in particular was giving their defence a few problems.

But we nearly got our pockets picked and gave away a cheap equaliser. Titus ran into trouble and Boucaud curled a shot just over. To be fair to York they were doing well – they had a shout for a penalty turned down and hit the bar from a corner.

However, we doubled our lead on the 30-minute mark. Catts played a lovely volleyed pass to Tounkra and the youngster ran with the ball and picked his spot in the bottom corner. The Frenchman showed great composure and coolly finished. Maybe SB will give him a run-out in the first XI this year. Watch this space.

Another lad who was in the spotlight was Craig Gardner. And to be fair he did OK. He managed to crunch a few York players, before unleashing a thunderbolt of a free-kick, which was well saved. Overall, he was lively, energetic and has one hell of a shot on him. I’m sure there will be more to come from him.

The whistle went and the first 45 went well. Bruce’s lads had played well, and we were good value for our lead. Bardo showed us he’s still got a rocket in his boot and the French lad up front looked dangerous.

The second half started well. Gardener tested the keeper again with a long-range shot, and Tounkra blazed over after a good ball from Steed.

Twenty minutes into the half, Bramble clumsily brought Reed down in the box and the ref, probably atoning for his earlier error in not giving York a pen, pointed to the spot. And Reed smashed in the spot kick to make it 2-1.

As the half dragged on, we made loads of changes, most notably Elmo and Carson coming on. The rest were the reserves. But boy, did the youngsters make their presence known. For all of the fifteen minutes they were on, they played with pace, zest and purpose and gave the Sunderland side an edge – with Liam Noble testing the keeper on more than one occasion.

And that was that. Our first game of pre-season and we came throughout unscathed. Nonetheless, we played well and created a few good chances. York to their credit put up an excellent fight and were worthy opposition.

Final Score: 2:1

ALS Man of the Match: I’ll give it to Craig Gardener. Why not, eh? It was his first game and the lad did well, unlucky not to score too.

Chris Glancey

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