On the day when the great Stadium of Light was named as a potential host city for the 2018 World Cup and rightly so, I got to go to Eppleton CW’s ground to watch the ressies play Hartlepool Ressies in the Totesport cup in the freezing cold. The word juxtaposition springs to mind. However, I couldn’t complain about the entertainment as Pool won by the odd goal in seven, having been 4v0 up at half time and then there were two penalties and a sending off thrown in for good measure.

The Lads lined up with Ben Wilson in goal and Captain Kay and Michael Liddle at full back. Madden and Cornforth were at centre back and Liam Noble and David Meyler at centre mid. O’Donovan and Murphy provided both the width and first team experience whilst Tounkara played up front with man of the moment Ryan Noble.

Wilson was called into action twice early on, coming to collect crosses and whilst he doesn’t always appear to fully extend for them he showed courage, in particular for the second one, after being well and truly clattered for the first.

Colin West’s men showed early promise in opening minutes but the Lads broke against the run of play and in quick succession both Tounkara and Meyler had efforts well blocked by the Pool keeper Mark Cook. Moments later and Cook did well to get down low to turn a Murphy effort around his right hand post.

At this point Sunderland looked likely to push on for an opener but they were given a reminder by Pool that despite already being eliminated from the competition, they weren’t there to make up the numbers. The impressive David Foley did well just before the quarter hour mark breaking down the left hand side toward the edge of the box and his burst of pace pulled both defenders across to his side of the box. It left a team mate unmarked in the centre but Foley took the greedy option and shot from a poor angle when it looked like he should have cut it across to his better placed colleague.

Liam Noble committed his third poor challenge of the game soon after and it was a mystery to me how he’d managed to evade a booking as he had a running beattle with Alan Power in Pool’s midfield.

Wilson blocked what looked like a goal bound effort moments later but perhaps should have palmed the shot round the post for as it pinged back out Madden had to do well to block the follow up.

Just before the mid way point, Murphy had a good effort but again the Pool keeper did well to keep it out and as the ball fell back out to Ryan Noble you thought he would blast it home from the edge of the box but whilst he followed the text book by putting it back where the keeper was coming from he hit it unexpectedly wide when perhaps the right hand side of the goal had a lot less congestion.

A minute later and Ryan made an excellent timed run into space on the apex of the box. Had he glanced up and seen how far the keeper had come out on his blind side, he could have gone round him but again he failed to hit the target.

Straight back up the other end and Foley was through again despite a small tug back on his shirt but Wilson got down well to his left to make the save.

Just after the midway point a poor mix up by captain Kay and keeper Wilson saw Billy Greulich steel in and despite being recumbent, managed to swing his leg at the ball and send it into the net for the opener. Embarrassing.

Two minutes later, the ref awarded us our first penalty. Murphy did well to burst into the box and after his effort was blocked Tounkara appeared to be dragged down. The ref had no hesitation in awarding the kick. Up steps Ryan Noble, or at least that’s what any person not on the patient list at Cherry Knowle would think but no David Meyler took the penalty it to our utter disbelief and guess what it was saved. WTF is it with Sunderland and choice of penalty takers. Sort it out.

As divine justice for being absolute arses when it comes to deciding who takes penalties at our club we then conceded a second goal and my god it could hardly be a poorer one to give away. A truly dismal ‘clearance’ from Cornforth is handed straight to their supporting attacker and the ensuing 15 seconds of defending is so rank I don’t know where to begin describing it, suffice to say that Rowell scored the easiest goal of his life. That was Hartlepool’s Jonny Rowell although Lord Gary himself could have scored it even at his age now and blind folded.

Wilson then had to save both the ball and Madden’s blushes after some poor play before just about the Lads’ only genuine moment of quality in the first half when Liam Noble threaded a beautiful curling ball for namesake Ryan to latch on to and shoot but uncharacteristically it went wide of the mark.

A minute before half time, former Black Cat Ben Clark, who captained the visitors, scored with a header from a right wing corner and then just when you think please blow the whistle ref, things get worse. Pool score a fourth with Foley being allowed to turn far too easily and hit a lovely shot into the side of the net.

H/T 0 - 4

The second half was an improvement but more to do with finishing and effort than a great improvement in the quality of football. Five minutes in and Roy O’Donovan opened the scoring. Tounkara broke well down the right and Roy slid in with a group of players six yards out to convert.

The next good break was down the left by Michael Liddle who was one of the few players to come out of the match with any credit, for his work rate, despite his passing being a little wayward at times. The run from Lids saw a piece of genuine composure by a red and white but unfortunately it was the fan behind the goal line who managed to execute one of the few accurate Sunderland headers of the night, nodding the ball straight back at Lids and all that without even taking his hands out of his pockets. Shame he wasn’t playing at the back for us.

Cook made another good save when Liam Noble sent in an excellent stinging shot from outside the box and then inevitably, Meyler did what Meyler does and crippled the impressive Foley who after a Cork handshake had to hobble off the pitch not to return. David was lucky not to be punished for what looked a late challenge.

Midway through the second period and Murphy cut the deficit with a stooping near post header from a Liam Noble corner and seconds later the ref gifted us one of the softest penalties I’ve ever seen. Ryan Noble couldn’t get ahead of his defender and as the keeper gathered the ref blew and pointed to the spot. We’d just stopped laughing in time to see Ryan Noble take and guess what, score the penalty. Why on earth did he not take the first one?

On 75 minutes Ryan Noble and O’Donovan burst down the right hand side into the box and as the ball was lifted over the advancing keeper we all sat for an age waiting for the net to ripple. Unfortunately it was O’Donovan not Noble who shot and the ball inexplicably ended up way behind the goal.

Ten minutes from time Liam Noble picked up a yellow for what looked like a clumsy challenge on the far side of the pitch and then just moments later burst through into the box and went down under pressure from a Pool defender. The ref judged it to be a dive showed Liam his second yellow and off he went.

A minute later and O’Donovan hit a sweet side foot shot towards the right hand side of the goal but the keeper did well to save it.

The lads have little to be proud of losing to a Hartlepool second string who’d lost five games on the bounce before this. We made them look like Brazil at times in the first half. Lets hope we get the world cup in 2018 and se the real thing.

Full Time: Sunderland Reserves 3 – 4 Hartlepool United Reserves

Sunderland: Wilson, Kay, Madden, Cornforth, Liddle, O’Donovan, Liam Noble, Meyler, Murphy, Ryan Noble, Tounkara

Subs unused: Subs (not used): Brown, Misiewicz, Hourihane, Galer, O’Mahoney

Hartlepool United: Cook, Purvis (Liddle), Blackford, Rowell, Cherel, Clark (Johnson), Doninger, Power, Greulich, Foley (Mason), Fredriksen

Subs unused: Martin, Herbert

Man of the Match: We were so poor I’ll have to give it to the ref for gifting us the second penalty.

Attendance: 267

Dov