The game started tensely as there was so much at stake for both sides with chances limited in the first half. If Sunderland are to make an immediate return to the Premier League next season, they will need the home fans behind them because their form at the Stadium of Light will hold the key to a successful promotion campaign.Īnd the atmosphere in which they finish this season on home soil - good or bad - will carry over to August.Hythe Town were unable to hold on to claim a place in this season’s play-offs as they conceded a last-minute goal in their 1-1ĭraw with Corinthian-Casuals at Reachfields on Saturday afternoon. David Moyes praises Jordan Pickford and reacts to latest transfer rumours.Perhaps other factors also helped, with the fact that Sunderland’s relegation race is run easing some of the pressure - and maybe Hull City’s nerves were jangling, as their own Premier League place remains in serious doubt.įrom Sunderland’s point of view, all they had to play for in the final four games is pride and this result and performance was the first step towards restoring a little of that.īut the most important move in that direction must be taken next weekend when they have a final shot at redemption in front of the home fans when relegation candidates Swansea City visit Wearside, before the back-to-back trips to London to face Arsenal and Chelsea. Has David Moyes got the fire to get Sunderland back up? Jermaine Jenas can't see it.Sunderland’s performances have improved in recent weeks although, with results continuing to go against them as the club slid towards the Championship, that received little attention. They saw a masterclass from in-demand goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, who turned in a man of the match performance to preserve his clean sheet - and showed once again why there is a queue of top clubs ready to whisk him away in the summer.Īnd all of the above combined to see Sunderland end their ten-game winless streak, as they clocked up their first victory since they hammered Crystal Palace 4-0 at Selhurst Park in the first week of February.ĭavid Moyes said afterwards that this win had been coming. Sunderland's Jermain Defoe (centre) celebrates scoring his side's second goal (Image: PA) There was the end of Jermain Defoe’s 1,035-minute Premier League goal drought, as he scored the second in injury-time. There was an ‘I was there’ moment, in the shape of ‘Super’ Billy Jones’ diving header for the opening goal. Īnd in terms of the Black Cats’ relegation fate, it is impossible to argue otherwise.īut in this most miserable of campaigns it would be churlish of Sunderland supporters to turn their noses up at even the tiniest crumb of comfort.īecause Sunderland wins have been a scarce commodity this season - this was only their sixth in the league - and every one should be savoured.ĭespite Sunderland’s relegation having been sealed the previous week, the away end at the KCOM Stadium was sold out with around 2,500 fans making the 275-mile round-trip to East Yorkshire.Īnd after so many miles covered and so much vocal backing given for so little return this season, this time they had plenty to celebrate. Too little, too late, was the predictable reaction to Sunderland’s win at Hull City.
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