EFL League One, Saturday February 5th
My annual pilgrimage to The Stadium of Light ended in disappointment for 2022 as League One basement boys Doncaster Rovers sprung a shock win against Sunderland to give themselves a fighting chance of survival and in turn dent the hosts promotion aspirations.
As you all know, my late father was a Sunderland fan, and around his birthday (which is 8th February) me and the step mum go up to watch his beloved Black Cats (he supported them for more then forty years until his passing in 2008) and we have probably only see them win a handful of times over the years.
This year though we really thought we were onto a winner here, Sunderland were hosting one of the worst teams in League One in the shape of Doncaster Rovers who were rooted to the foot of the division having only five league wins all season and eleven points from safety with the leagues worst goal difference too.
The Black Cats sat third at kick off and within striking distance of the automatic spots, although a run of one win in six recently and a humiliating 6-0 loss at Bolton Wanderers last weekend resulted in the sacking of manager Lee Johnson, so this wasn't ideal prep for this contest, typical I thought leading up to the game we were going to come and watch.
But on Tuesday all hope was restored with the news that Jermaine Defoe was returning to the club for what they called 'One Last Dance', and this saw ticket sales sky rocket with over 38,000 turning up to watch his return to the club, albeit he was to begin on the bench, however there was a terrific atmosphere prior to kick off and we all hoped this would lead to a commanding performance and bounce back from last weekend's loss to grab an easy three points against a Donnie side who Sunderland had strolled past in the corresponding fixture earlier in the season.
But we should have known better quite frankly, as the Black Cats put in a horrid first half display, and if it had not been for keeper Hoffman, the woodwork and some wayward finishing from the visitors, Sunderland could have been well and truly beaten at the break, however, the visitors were to still go into the half time interval two goals clear.
Debutant Reo Griffiths managed to stroll clear to slot Rovers ahead midway through the first period, and then in first half stoppage time experienced campaigner Tommy Rowe fired an unstoppable effort into the far corner, and the chorus of boos that greeted the hosts at half time were well merited, it had been an abysmal display so far and to say I was dejected at the break was an understatement.
I didn't hold out much hope for a second half comeback but the hosts dominated the period but just could not find that killer touch in front of goal, seeing visiting keeper Jonathan Mitchell in the way, with one such save seeing him claw away a Ross Stewart header, although it did look like the ball had crossed the line, but we will never know, so it will go down as one of the great saves.
The hosts also struck the post as they looked to try and find a route back into the game, and with twenty minutes left Defoe and their other new signing Matete were brought on to try and galvanize the home side, but they were unable to claw back the first half deficit despite finding a breakthrough finally after 89 minutes when Corry Evans finished from close range and fell to a very disappointing loss against a side who had won only one away from home all season and had lost twelve of their fourteen away from home.
Credit must go to the visitors who dug in and made it so difficult for the hosts, and they put in a brave and courageous display to give themselves a fighting chance of maybe escaping the bottom four, who knows what a result like this can do for their confidence, it is results like this than can kick start a run of results, so who knows.
For Sunderland though it's an awful loss, they need to install a manager as soon as possible, will it be Roy Keane, will it be Grant McCann, who knows, but whoever it is needs to install some belief into these group of players before the season slides away like many have before, it's the least their suffering passionate fans deserve quite frankly who were brilliant in the second period.
Full time Sunderland 1 Doncaster Rovers 2
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