A long time ago, Falkirk veteran Andy Lawrie decided that Sunderland would help him celebrate ten years at the club. Therefore Quinn and co managed to squeeze in the fixture during international week, meaning something to do for us disillusioned fans, desperate for a red and white fix before our trip to Goodison next week.

The game gave injured personnel such as skipper Dean Whitehead, Andrew Cole and Stan Varga the chance to gain some match fitness, as well as allowing fringe players like Dave Connolly and Roy O’Donovan the chance to stake a first team claim. Therefore the team lined up like this: Darren Ward, Greg Halford, Stan Varga, Danny Collins, Peter Hartley, Roy O’Donovan, Dean Whitehead, Graham Kavanagh, Ross Wallace, Dave Connolly and Andrew Cole.

Both teams started sluggishly and rarely threatened, a typical feature of mid-season friendlies. Hartley and Wallace linked up well down the left, occasionally carving out good opportunities that ultimately came to nothing. Dave Connolly did have the ball in the back of the net however, even though the offside flag had been raised well before he received possession, but I suppose seeing the net rattle can only help confidence.

Or so you’d think.

Both Cole and Connolly had chances to impress but failed to show up for long periods of play. They rarely, if ever, linked up together and because of it felt the need to drift wide or go deep in order to get the ball, meaning no-one was upfront to do any sort of damage.

The first half was as dull as it gets, with literally neither side creating anything but a cold chill around the half constructed stadium. But then a moment of luck arrived and gifted the home side the lead. Liam Craig’s shot seemed destined for Darren Ward’s hands, only for a cruel deflection off Greg Halford diverted the ball past the Welshman and into the net, sending three men and their dogs into delirium.

Halford tried to make amends at the other end, expertly directing a powerful header at goal, only to see it cannon off the bar to safety. This meant Sunderland traipsed off at half time one down.

The second half brought no changes, but a serious change in play. We began to up the tempo with Ross Wallace in particular leading the team forward, claiming three efforts on target in as many minutes, with the only downfall being they went straight down keeper Krul’s throat.

Sunderland dominated the early exchanges of the half and got their reward when Halford’s shot come cross found the boot of Roy O’Donovan who cleverly guided the ball into the net, giving Krul no chance and Sunderland an equaliser.

After the goal the game fizzled out again, becoming a boring midfield battle that lacked any skill or actual desire to take control, understandable in a friendly of no importance. On the hour Keane made a trio of substitutions, bringing off Hartley, Kavanagh and Whitehead (who did well on his return) for three youngsters whose names evade me.

This added an extra ounce of enthusiasm into our play but yet again we lacked quality in the final third, something that won’t help the selection chances of Cole or Connolly in the near future.

Keane had clearly seen enough and decided to bring on his ace of spades, big Kenwyne Jones, who had surprised many people by actually travelling up, never mind playing. Anyways he had his usual influence in a game, causing defenders problems and making a general handful of himself. However his main contribution was missing a glorious chance with ten minutes remaining, through one on one he tamely hit at the advancing keeper and blew any chance of a morale boosting victory north of the border.

Just before the end we all witnessed an unsavoury moment. Danny Collins, who’d had a solid game all night, threw himself into a challenge on his goal line, bravely heading clear before clattering full force into the post. The full stadium gasped in horror as he lay on the deck, thankfully he came round and continued the game, but honestly on another day it could have been a hell of a lot worse.

Anyways that’s it for another random Sunderland awayday. There’s nothing much to take out of the game (except frostbite), next week at Goodison is when it matters so well done to both sides for basically not getting anyone sent off or injured.

Final Score: Falkirk 1-1 Sunderland

ALS Man of the Match: Danny Collins (didn’t put a foot wrong and managed to continue despite being bent around the goalpost)

James Henderson