Match Day Thread Sunderland v PNE Stadium of Light 17/3/2018

Sunderland Association Football Club (/ˈsʌndərlənd/ (About this sound listen), locally /ˈsʊndlən/) is an English professional football club based in the city of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. Sunderland currently plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Since its formation in 1879,[2] the club has won six top-flight (First Division, now the Premier League) titles (1892, 1893, 1895, 1902, 1913 and 1936), a total only bettered by five other clubs, and has finished runners-up five times. The club has also won the FA Cup twice (1937 and 1973) and been runners-up twice (1913 and 1992), as well as winning the FA Community Shield in 1936 and being finalists the following year. Sunderland have also been Football League Cup finalists in 1985 and 2014.

Sunderland won their first FA Cup in 1937 with a 3–1 victory over Preston North End, and remained in the top league for 68 successive seasons until they were relegated for the first time in 1958. Sunderland's most notable trophy after the Second World War was their second FA Cup in 1973, when the club secured a 1–0 victory over Leeds United. The team has won the second tier title five times in that period and the third tier title once.

Sunderland play their home games at the 49,000-capacity all-seater Stadium of Light having moved from Roker Park in 1997. The original ground capacity was 42,000 which was increased to 49,000 following expansion in 2000. Sunderland have a long-standing rivalry with their neighbouring club Newcastle United, with whom they have contested the Tyne–Wear derby since 1898.

They last won a home game in 2010

New ground for yours truly and a ground the club have not played at for 12 years, the last visit saw us win 1-0 and if memory serves me right, we went top of the Championship however that all went tits up under bad apples Simpson.
A must win game for both sides probably more for the home side whose season can be best described as dreadful although they still have a chance of avoiding a second relegation on the bounce. They are onto their second manager of the season Chris Coleman replacing our ex Simon, personal view should not have sacked Grayson but they did. Off the field millions in debt and lots of dissatisfaction around the Stadium of Light which may explain their awful home record over the last few seasons (Cue home win Saturday)
Odd thing about Sunderland thought they looked decent when we played them at our place ended 2 all cracking game.
They have ;lots of experience but whether it is a united dressing room is open to debate.
One thing we must not do is spend the afternoon slagging McGeady off because he will only go on a 90 yard celebration if he bags one against us.
Coleman has thrown some youngsters into the mix, no easy game as I said both sides need to win so looks odds on a draw.
North End Cunningham hamstring a doubt personal view Earl at left back rather than Woods, Moult returns from illness. Match blog Saturday night.





Stat Attack: Sunderland

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Sunderland AFC are one of a select group of clubs whom we have met on over 100 occasions in the Football League, this being our 54th visit to Wearside.
However, our record is far from being as good as we would hope, with only five victories and 16 draws in the credit column.

The more numerate North End fans will have worked out that means 32 defeats, with a 2:1 ratio in goals with 50 for North End offset by 101 for our hosts.

From our first visit to Roker Park in 1891, we lost our first six games and only took four points from the first 29 matches. During this time we lost 6-3 in 1894 and conceded four goals on four other occasions before turning previous form on its head from 1938 onwards.

We won all four fixtures either side of the Second World War and drew eight of the next nine games, but 19 games passed before our next and most recent victory.
This came in 2006 on what proved to be our last game in Sunderland before this weekend, as we recorded a single goal win thanks to David Nugent’s first half strike on the last matchday of 2006.

A week later, we repeated the score-line at Deepdale as we progressed to the fourth round of the FA Cup, completing a full house of victories over the Mackems that season. Apart from that 6-3 defeat, we have only scored three goals in a match on two other occasions and we failed to win either of these, losing 4-3 in 1971 and drawing 3-3 in 2004 on our first visit to the Stadium of Light.

Ross Wallace, Brian Mooney and of course Aidan McGeady are all ball-playing crowd pleasers to have played for both clubs, whilst at the other end of the pitch, Sam Allardyce, Jim McNab, Neill Collins, Billy Jones and Joe Hinnigan have featured in defence for each.

On This Date
We managed a 2-2 draw at Roker Park on this date in 1923, only our fourth point on Wearside. Tommy Roberts and Roland Woodhouse were our scorers, with the legendary Charlie Buchan scoring both Sunderland’s goals.

Kelham O’Hanlon made his debut as caretaker manager in a 2-1 defeat at Turf Moor on this date in 2002. Kel was in charge for the final nine games of the season after David Moyes left for Everton, overseeing five wins and a draw before handing over the Craig Brown in the summer.

Thorsten Stuckmann is 37 today, having returned to Germany last summer after leaving Chesterfield. Stucki gained a reputation for saving penalties after marking his debut at Rochdale by seeing us into the next round of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy with his ability against opponents from 12 yards. He spent four seasons at Deepdale before joining Doncaster and spending time with Partick Thistle. Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Stucki!

Last Five Games At Sunderland
Sunderland 0 Preston North End 1 (Nugent), 30th December 2006
Sunderland 3 (Elliott, 2; Carter) Preston North End 1 (Alexander (pen)), 18th September 2004
Sunderland 3 (Mears (og), Thornton, Stewart (pen)) Preston North End 3 (Healy, Mears, Lewis), 10th March 2004
Sunderland 3 (Howey, 2; Kidd (og)) Preston North End 2 (Bryson, Cartwright), 23rd August 1995
Sunderland 1 (MacPhail (pen)) Preston North End (Jones), 28th December 1987

Ref Watch: Sunderland

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Lancashire referee Darren Bond takes charge of his third North End game of the season when the Lilywhites travel to the Stadium on Light on Saturday afternoon.

Darren was the match official in the club’s home draw against Millwall in September and our 2-1 win at Bristol City back in November, two of his 34 games so far this season, where he has issued 116 cautions and five red cards.

This will be his fifth Sunderland game of the season, having taken charge of wins over Carlisle United and Nottingham Forest and defeats to Bristol City and Birmingham City.

Although he had done numerous friendlies and other games involving Preston North End, last season was the first time the experienced official took charge of competitive fixtures involving the club, as he refereed the two home 1-1 draws with Burton Albion and Nottingham Forest.
The referee will be assisted by Andrew Fox and Mark Jones, with Matthew Dicicco as the fourth official.

 

Chris Coleman is determined to see his players to shake things up at the bottom this weekend with victory over Preston North End.

Sunderland welcome Alex Neil and his men to the Stadium of Light this Saturday, looking to secure their first win since January.

Currently five adrift of safety in the Sky Bet Championship, the Welshman is determined to inspire his side to land a few punches in an attempt to close the gap on 21st place Barnsley who entertain Millwall at 1pm this Saturday.

Speaking at his press conference on Friday morning, Coleman admitted with just nine games left his players can no longer look to the next match or the one after that for hope, they must start collecting points now if they are to turn the tide on their season.

“Forget about our home form or the situation there. It is a game of football at 3pm where anything can happen,” he said.

“They will know it will be a tough game for them as well as us.

“Both teams are playing for a lot but let’s just see where we end up at 5pm. For them, they will know the situation we are in and that we are fighting for ourselves.

“I’m sure they will be in the same mood because they need the three points as well.

“When people say you are going to need four, five or six wins to stay up – nobody knows what is needed.

“It is a crazy league in the Championship. You never know one result from the next. The inconsistencies (are there for all to see), we should’ve really got something against QPR last weekend even with 10 men.

“And then you see QPR go to Aston Villa in midweek, who have been one an incredible run, and win 3-1. That is this league.

“How many wins we need we don’t know,” he continued. “We just need to look at our next game like it is our last game and put everything into that.

“We need something positive. A positive feeling. Home or away it doesn’t matter it is about getting something positive and one 90-minute match can change everything.

“We have just got to make sure we are on the end of that in a positive way.”

Alex Neil believes the position Sunderland find themselves in makes them a ‘dangerous’ side to face at this stage of the season.

The Black Cats sit at the foot of the Sky Bet Championship table, looking to close the gap on 21st place Barnsley who hold a five-point lead over them at the moment.

And while the Tykes will have the chance to extend the gap before Sunderland even kick a ball tomorrow, as they face Millwall at 1pm, that doesn’t make Preston’s challenge any easier according to Neil.

“We’ve got to look at and understand our opponent's motivation coming into a game,” the Scotsman told Preston’s official website.

“If they’re desperate for the points, for whatever reason, we’ve got to understand that this isn’t a game where they’ve got nothing to play for.”

“I think these type of teams are really dangerous to play against, they need the points, we also need the points, so you’re just hoping in terms of playing under pressure that we can handle that and hopefully go out and perform.

“It was tough against Sunderland earlier on in the season. I think that there was a lot of emotion that day - obviously Simon (Grayson) and Aiden (McGeady) were coming back for the first time since they left, and I think Sunderland were naturally always going to raise their game.”

He continued: “We went ahead in the game back in September and probably should have kept the lead. We didn’t and then the game ended in a draw. Despite their position in the league at the moment, I am expecting an equally tough game on Saturday.

“I think there’s a lot pressure coming into Saturday’s game at Sunderland. The fans will be nervous and agitated because they think their team should be doing better and we’ve got to take advantage of that.

“It’s a difficult one for Sunderland at the moment. However, if you look at recent results from sides who are near the bottom of the table, they’re picking up results now. I think it can be really dangerous playing sides near the bottom at this stage of this season because they’re fighting for their lives, they know what’s at stake and they’re running out of time.”

 

Sunderland 0 Preston North End 2 Maguire, Robinson

Sunderland: Camp, Matthews, Clarke-Slater, O'Shea, Kone, Oviedo, Honeyman (Lualua 69), Cattermole, Ejaria (McNair 76), Asoro, Maja (Fletcher 63). Subs (not used): McManaman, McGeady, Robson, Stryjek.
PNE: Maxwell, Fisher, Huntington, Davies, Earl, Pearson, Gallagher (Johnson 72), Robinson (Harrop 86), Browne, Barkhuizen (Bodin 86), Maguire. Subs (not used): Clarke, Woods, Moult, Hudson.
Referee: Darren Bond (Wigan)
Attendance: 28,543 (2,277 PNE)

A banana skin on paper against the divisions bottom club turned out to be a stroll, only one criticism and team likje Manchester City would have gone for the kill we had a great chance to boost goal difference yesterday, this game may just come back to haunt us but saying that three points were all that mattered.
First half was fairly equal probably have to say the home side had the clearer chances with the two young lads ups front causing us a bit of problems and Oviedo giving Fisher some difficulties down our right hand side, Maxwell had a couple of saves to make but nothing taxing. We had the majority of the ball but when we got into the danger zone the ball did not sem to drop kindly for us, Robinson played a fantastic ball through to Barkhuizen just couldn't control it and Camp smothered the ball at his feet. Browne also got the ball close to goal but was defeated by the bounce of the ball and Huntington headed over from a corner should have scored. Yep we should have had a penalty when Robinson was shoved the fact he tried to stay on his feet but couldn't should have made Mr Bond's mind up for him.
Second half started in a blizzard a bit of Sunderland pressure then with 25 minutes to go game over. Gallagher free kick home defenders playing statues Maguire heads home. Maguire then couldn't find Barkhuizen close in and Robinson missed a sitter. Then early bath for Clarke-Salter wanted to exchange bshirts with Barkhuizen during play, second yellow, he'd only just come back from a three match ban.
Two up similar to first only cross by Barkhuizen, Robinson header back post points in the back. With 25 minutes to go the vast majority of the home support voted with their feet and left. We had the chances to bury them but apart from one Johnson effort which was cleared from the line played the wrong ball or took to long to make the right decision and the chance would disappear. Played possession football at the end to the sound of there's only one Simon Grayson. Only one effort from the home side a LuaLua free kick tipped over by Maxwell
Easy indeed it was .
Two points from the play offs, if Cardiff beat Derby today one place won't be up for grabs but two will be.
As for Sunderland, fabulous stadium although from seven miles up the view from the away end can induce vertigo, feel a bit for their support but you have to stick by your team through thick and thin and to see loads leave long before the end can be dispiriting for the players. Also apparently Darron Gibson was arrested on match day morning for drink driving!!!
Finally a word of praise to all the coach drivers not easy driving conditions yesterday lots of thanks from us all.

Chris Coleman was left to rue his side’s 20-minute collapse in the second period as Preston secured the points on Wearside today.

With little to separate the two teams at the midway interval, the visitors stepped it up a level in the second 45 and it wasn’t long before they gained full control.

Just five minutes after the restart Sean Maguire scored his fifth goal in as many games off a free-kick from the right before Jake Clarke-Salter was dismissed for a second bookable offence with 59 minutes played.

Preston doubled their advantage shortly after when Callum Robinson nodded home from inside the six-yard box, to leave Coleman frustrated with his side’s performance once more.

“We are left disappointed again here,” he said.

“The first half was tight; the conditions were very difficult but in the second half it took just five minutes for us to concede a goal like we did.

“It’s painful and it’s a common theme, hence why we are bottom of the table.

“A game of football is over 90 minutes. A 45-minute performance is never enough.

“There was nothing in the match in the first half, but you can’t defend set-pieces like we did.

“That just puts everyone on a downer after that because it is so soon after the restart,” he continued.

“Jake Clarke-Salter got sent off which is another body blow and then we are facing a huge uphill task.

“It’s a hugely disappointing day again.”

Manager Alex Neil labelled this afternoon’s 2-0 win over Sunderland as professional, and a job well done, as PNE ensured they went into the international break with three points.

Second half headers from Sean Maguire and Callum Robinson secured the victory for Alex Neil’s side who closed to gap on the top six to two points, and the gaffer spoke of the importance of taking maximum points at the Stadium of Light this afternoon.

“We looked at the other fixtures of the teams around us and we knew this was a good opportunity to catch up some ground. After the disappointment of Fulham it was always important to bounce back. With the international break coming up we didn’t want to go into it on the back of a loss.
“The one thing I will say is that the players deserve a lot of credit because the conditions weren’t easy today. I know it was snowing and you could see the wind but when you’re in it, it was bitterly cold for a start, which means muscles are tightening up all of the time and equally the wind and the snow made it difficult to play in, so the players deserve a lot of credit with how they passed the ball in spells of the game.

“The only disappointment for us is that we didn’t put the game to bed. We had five or six opportunities to score five, however, what I will say is that coming here, it was a professional job and we got the three points.

“When they went down to ten men, we should have kept the ball better. We had countless counter attacking opportunities to put the game to bed but we didn’t take them, but I don’t want to take the shine off it as any three points at this level is good.

"We know there’s bits we need to improve on, but we came here, got the job done, got the three points. We can enjoy the break, and then we can get prepared and ready for the run in.”
The first half wasn't straight forward, with North End not quite able to find a way through the Black Cats' defence in the first half, but a key change enforced by the manager at the interval saw Callum Robinson pushed up further forward in expense of Sean Maguire, who dropped back for the second half.

The change proved dividends with both players getting on the score sheet, and the manager was pleased with the flexibility of his front four this afternoon.

He continued “With Sean up front in the middle, they were quite happy to stay in their shape with Sean running down the sides but when we put Callum down the side, he almost played like a false nine and we’ve done that on quite a few occasions and it worked really well. That tactical change certainly helped us get the three points,

“Sometimes you can over analyse when you win and be a bit picky, but I think what we’ve got to do is understand what we’ve got to do to get to where we want to get to and we’re quite happy to win the game.”
Alex made three changes from Saturday’s defeat to Fulham, with a notable inclusion in-between the sticks with Chris Maxwell starting ahead of Declan Rudd, whose wife went into labour on Friday, and the manager was pleased with Maxwell’s contribution in the game.

“He’s managed a clean sheet, and his distribution was good in the main in testing conditions. Maxi’s been frustrated that he’s not been playing but Declan has come in and done relatively well and obviously Declan’s not here as he’s probably had his baby by now, his wife was in labour overnight which is why he wasn’t with us today.”

North End head into the international break on the back of the win, and Alex explained to iFollowPNE how they’ll use the break ahead of the remaining eight games of the season.

He continued: “We’ll use it for a bit of a rest to start off with - and then we’ll get the players in for a few days and put some hard work in their legs and pick up some things we can improve on.

“We’re getting more and more players away on International duty as we get which is a recognition of the work we are doing which is great. We’ll give them next week off, and then in and get ready for the Sheffield Wednesday game."

 

A decent enough win keeping the NE is touch with the top 6. Personally, I think that, from the little I have seen of NE, the team lacks that spark that distinguishes a good team to a champion team like Wolves. There are elements there, a good defence and a young one with Earl and Davies covered by the excellent 'bites yer leg' Pearson and while Barkhuisen and Horgan and Robinson are speady and Maguire on fire, there is a need for a Spavin or McKenna type. A certain ageing Argentinian would be useful, but I don't think he likes the snow!

 

Getting there Barnet teams evolving