Sunderland 1 Reading 0

EFL Championship, Saturday 11th February

I was up in the North East on Saturday for a yearly pilgrimage for my beloved Dad, and saw a late Patrick Roberts goal hand Sunderland a hard fought win against Reading at The Stadium of Light, lifting them to seventh and a point off the play off places.

As you all know my dad passed away in 2008, and being a Sunderland fan for north of forty years me and my step mum always make the trip north every February near his birthday to honour him and go watch his beloved Black Cats, this was our fifteenth such trip and we had only seen them win on three of those occasions, so we were both hoping that in the year he turned 70, his side could give us a fourth win.

The odds were stacked in favour for a victory too, Sunderland are enjoying a very good campaign in the second tier of English football as they hope to return to the promised land of the Premier League once again, this was their first season back in the Championship for a few years after four seasons down in League One, but the club have some decent youth coming through as well as adding some very good players to that, and under the stewardship of Tony Mowbray, things seem to be coming together and are exciting the fans once again.

The Black Cats sat ninth in the division prior to kick off and within touching distance of those play off places, and they had come into this contest of the back of two very competitive games against Premier League Fulham in the FA Cup and they had also seen off Middlesbrough in their last league game too, so confidence was obviously high, and they welcomed a Reading side to SOL who they had comfortably beaten 3-0 away from home back in September.

Paul Ince admitted he had got his tactics wrong in that contest though, so said that he had been better prepared for this contest, and although Reading were down in 17th spot ahead of kick off, they were only four points behind their opponents and six off the play offs, such is the craziness of the championship and it's unpredictability, despite this though Sunderland were beginning the match as favourites.

It must be noted though that apart from their 4-0 loss at Stoke, their recent form had shown they could certainly make life difficult for their opponents, they gave Manchester United a good contest in the FA Cup and come back from two goals down at home to Watford to grab a point in their last outing, so they sure had character, which would certainly be needed here in front of 38,000 plus at SOL.

Reading had the third worst record away from home in the division and set out to disrupt the hosts rhythm from the off, and this certainly worked in the opening forty five minutes as the home side could not muster up anything of note, and an often frustrated home crowd were not enjoying it, as the game was dire at best and goalless at the break, with many thinking maybe the hosts were having an hangover from Wednesday nights hard fought contest against Fulham.

The hosts certainly looked lethargic but after a rousing team talk from boss Mowbray at half time, they began to carve out chances in a second period that saw the hosts look the likelier to grab a goal, however chances for Joe Gelhardt, Aji Alese, Trai Hume & Edouard Michut went begging, and you felt it may not be the Black Cats day, much to me and my step mums frustrations. At least they were not losing we thought!!!

Reading had ex Newcastle players Andy Carroll and Jeff Hendrick in their ranks, and the former was copping most of the stick coming from the home stands, but it looked as if their current side would get out of Sunderland with a very hard fought point, but Sunderland were not to be denied as their dominance finally told in the 84th minute when Roberts played a one two with Hume down the right before the former drove into the box and fired past Joe Lumley.

The roar that greeted that goal was immense, and yes I did punch the air and hug my step mum when it happened, it was joy mixed with relief I can tell you, and the deserved goal had finally come, now to hold on for the remaining moments.

This was done in fairly comfortable style though as the visitors could not really muster a decent attempt on the hosts goal, and after four or so minutes of stoppage time, the final whistle was greeted with glee amongst the home crowd, and seeing the Black Cats go up two places to seventh as a result as their march towards the play offs continues, whereas for Reading, that late goal saw them drop a place to 18th, nine points above the drop zone and eight points from the play offs.

A very enjoyable day it was, we met some lovely people in the Black Cats bar before and after the game, and we all rose a glass or two to my dad, which was really cool, and emotional too, fabulous stuff, made the 5.30pm start earlier in the day well worth it.....Ha'Way The Lads!!!!!

Full time Sunderland 1 Reading 0