On a drizzly and cold night, we (sort of) welcomed Dorty Leeds to the SoL and repeated a famous score-line in a proper game of football between two good sides.
Interim/temporary/makeshift/whatever manager/coach Dodds picked a surprising line-up, but one which stuck to its task and drew a lot of comments that we’ve not been able to apply to a Sunderland side for a good while – dominant in the air at both ends, well organised with a proper shape, worked their socks off, and got stuck in. That’s not to say that it never happened under recent managers (apart from the “in the air” bit) but tactically we were sound, stuck to our guns, and deserved a hard-fought win for the second successive game. Look, I’m not going to start screaming for Dodds to get the job, but his tactics in the last two games, and his substitutions, have been spot on and deserve appreciation.
The line-up brought a few comments, mostly of surprise, and much of the chatter in the Roker End was about who would play where.
Patterson
Hume Seelt Ballard O’Nien © Huggins
Neil Bellingham
Ba Pritchard Clarke
... and a bench of Bishop, Dack, Ekwah, Mayenda, Rusyn, Ouachiche, Triantis, Roberts, and Burstyn.
Of course, many questioned the absence of Roberts after his fine game at the weekend, but with the pace in the Leeds lineup, you could understand the inclusion of Ba, and the three central defenders which allowed Huggins and Hume to use their speed to counter this – and to get forward themselves. The expectedly large Leeds contingent was noisy, but we had the potential curse player in Clarke as we set up defending the North End and kicked off. For the first five minutes or so Leeds passed it about nicely and we set our stall out to defend, and chase them down in the middle of the field – but weren’t very good at the latter. Ba chased back down our right but gave away a free kick near the corner of our box, which Patto tipped over just as it looked like it might curl under the bar at the back of the goal.
Once that opening period was out of the way, we started to impose ourselves on the game, with Clarke and Ba getting between their fullbacks and central defenders – joined occasionally by Hume – and Pritch trying to draw those central defenders out of position. Twelve minutes in Clarke produced a typical jinking run into the box from the left to win a corner which Leeds cleared, and then Seelt showed several pieces of solid defending to nullify the visitors’ attacks. I was desperate to include the line “Jenson Interceptor” (ask yer dad) but it was solid tackling rather than intercepting things that he did well at. He was backed up with a couple of typically thunderous tackles from our fullbacks– the sort that get the crowd going, but when Seelt put one in it was deemed a foul although it clearly wasn’t – and that’s not down to my admittedly red and white tinted specs. Poor decision, ref – and not the first that went the wrong way. Just after twenty minutes, Pritch flashed a shot across the goal from the left that flew a yard wide as the drizzle turned to mizzle and blew as far in as row 35. When Clarke was fouled out on the left on 27, their man feigned injury but the ref simply waited until he got up to book him. Young Jack whipped it in, the keeper dropped it and Leeds made a right mess of getting it away, eventually hacking it for a corner on our right. Pritch hit it to the back post, where Seelt rose to head into the top corner and we were making ready to celebrate when Meslier moved, seemingly in slow motion, to claw it away– certainly the best save I’ve seen against us this season. The bugger.
Ba then broke through, but chose the wrong pass when he got to the edge of the box, then got away again to better effect as he drove forward and won a corner a few minutes later. There was Pritch again, and this time it was Bellingham at the back post, but he headed down and a yard wide. Ah, Lads, so close. Leeds broke from the goal kick, and we needed Big Dan to head clear the resultant corner. We were generally looking decent, but O9 was booked for what is becoming a regular bit of nonsense as he halted a Leeds attack on 40. Still (no, not our new manager) we pressed forward with Clarke understandably seeing a lot of the ball, but when he cut inside he shot way over. As a single added minute was announced, Seelt, hanging forward after a dead ball, was caught just offside as he flew in to get to a deep cross to the back post, and the half ended level – which was probably correct. We’d had a couple of instances when we could really have done with someone at centre forward to hold up the ball and bring in our advancing midfield, but while Leeds might not have been that clever in the air, they were defensively solid on the ground.
Just to remind the visitors of a certain game half a century ago, Richie Pitt did the half time draw, but resisted the temptation to hoof any Leeds player up in the air as he left the field.
No changes for the second half despite a few calling for the replacement of Ba, and we again allowed the visitors the bulk of possession in the opening exchanges – but didn’t let them through, even if it did take a good two minutes to get the ball into their half. Once those few minutes were up, Seelt did a Benno and carried the ball out of defence and over halfway and fed Ba, which resulted in another good save from Meslier and a corner on our left which their keeper punched away with O9 taking a bit of a hit and lying down in the vain hope of a penalty – no VAR in this division, Luke, even if they probably would have given in in the Prem despite it not really being a foul. A very obvious foul on Ba, with their defence doubling up to climb all over him, was missed but something said or done on the Leeds bench brought a yellow for one of their coaching/backroom staff. Eyup, Lad.
Patto was called into action soon after, but it was a comfortable take at the foot of his right hand post, only for us to concede a free near the left corner of our box almost immediately. This was headed away by Ballard, who must surely be attracting attention from further up the leagues as he out-muscles and out-leaps opposing attackers at will. Anyway, just before the hour, the expected change came with Ba, who’d covered a lot of ground in chasing Leeds players down, being replaced by Roberts, and Paddy was straight into the thick of things, carrying the ball down the right. Neil then got on the end of a nice passing move to burst into the box, but the Leeds defence did well to force him to run the ball out for a goal kick. At this stage the tackles were flying in, particularly from Huggins and Hume, which really got the crowd going, as did another Ballard clearance which set Pritch away – but he was hauled down a few yards into their half, bring cries of “off, off.” Surely it’s about time that deliberate rugby tackles anywhere on the pitch brought an automatic red card? As it was, a yellow was waved and Pritch got it to Roberts, and his cross eventually fell to Clarke – who smashed it way over again.
With twenty to go, Seelt chased back and put in a great tackle and looked to have hurt himself, but got to his feet and we set Roberts away only to see Paddy hauled down and another yellow brandished. Haway man ref, surely there’s a red in our pocket? As we were lining up the free, Seelt, probably still feeling the effects of his earlier defensive challenge, was replaced by Ekwah, and we wondered if we’d change formation to accommodate him. No, Clarke dropped to left wing-back, Hume became a central defender, and we stayed as we were. A corner from Pritch on our left was cleared and Leeds looked to be through and clear, but Clarke was back faster than a mag at a Gregg’s special offer to slow their man down, and the eventual shot was a tired effort that didn’t bother Patto in the middle of his goal.
Back North we came, with Roberts helping Huggins to weave his way into the box and shoot, only to see it deflected up and wide for a corner on our right. Pritch took it low to Neil, who was lurking on the corner of the box – but his effort was blocked. Another attack bought greater rewards with just under fifteen to go, when a Neil ball into the box was headed clear only as far as the edge of the box, where Pritch’s instinctive header goalwards found Bellingham free and - again, almost in slow motion - we waited for it to fall nicely, but just when it seemed it would hang in the air forever, young Jobe simply headed it past Melsier as it bounced. No offside? No! Gerrinn! The first time someone playing as a forward has scored for us this season? I don’t really care.
With ten to go, the visitors understandably upped their game and won a free twenty yards out near the corner of out box – but hoofed it way over, drawing ironic cheers from the home support, and not for the first time. This prompted a couple of Leeds changes, with the appearance of a very blond Patrick Bamford one of them - I suppose you’ll try anything to change your luck in front of goal. With less than ten to go, the home crowd began celebrating every throw-in that went our way as if we’d scored, and the noise from the upper North stand abated a bit - although it came back as the visitors pressed forwards in the vain hope of getting something from the game. O’Nien shielded the ball towards our goal line but a frustrated opponent knocked him over, winning us a welcome free-kick. However, there was a bit of a scare in the dying minutes when Leeds did get a shot on target and past Patto, but Huggins was in the right place to clear off the line.
As five added minutes were announced, Pritch made way for Dack – another standing ovation – as we defended like demons and made sure we claimed all three points. The visiting fans roared their players on, we roared our players on and celebrated every tackle and ball forward. The final whistle was greeted with a huge cheer and we fans took a deep breath in appreciation of two very good wins in a matter of days. Unusually for us, we’d allowed our opponents the bulk of possession, proving that you don’t have to have the ball all of the time to be the better side. We’d maintained our shape, composure, and workrate, of course we made mistakes, but it we hadn’t been making them we’d be top of the league. What we did show was the ability to take on a good side, maintain our shape, stick to our tactics, and come out on top of a very good game.
Which brings me to Man of the Match, for which there are many contenders. Neil showed maturity beyond his years as his central midfield partners changed throughout the game. Pritch picked his passes accurately and helped our front players hold their line and not chase forward to leave gaps for Leeds to run into. Bellingham moved almost seamlessly from one position to another, as did Clarke. Ballard was again immense, bonking headers away and making vital tackles as his marras Seelt and O9 played their part. However, when it comes to tackles, I suspect we have the two best fullbacks in the division. Both Huggins and Hume produced challenges that varied from the clever and subtle to the sort that would make Billy Whitehurst flinch, and there’s nowt like a thumping tackle to raise the roof at a Sunderland game.
Therefore I’ll give it to Hume.
