Can you remember the last time you
attended a Sunderland game and actually
enjoyed yourself? I mean really enjoyed yourself? Winning. Playing well. Being
pleased with what you saw and happily analyzing it all at full time. I can
remember the last time; it was on Saturday at Eppleton CW.
Sunderland's U23 side
entertained Arsenal at Eppleton in a PL2 fixture, one that was played in
cracking spring sunshine; ideal conditions for football. It's patently obvious
to any football scholar that Arsenal possess some extremely talented young
players. They move the ball excellently, every one of them comfortable in
possession and there was an evident range of passing on show too. Ainsley
Maitland-Niles, Marcus McGuane and Josh Da Silva all caught the eye. But Sunderland have some good young prospects at their disposal too, let's not forget that. Stryjek, Love and Gooch played well; Brady
and Beadling were excellent at the back as the home side triumphed 2-1. I
enjoyed watching the game, thoroughly enjoyed it in fact. Arsenal were
technically superior to Sunderland across the
park, but grit, work-rate and attitude were the foundations for the home side's victory.
Arsenal's familiar identity of silky passing and tika-taka approach was on show here, and it was very effective. But as the second half wore on and Sunderland weathered the storm a little, the away side
became frustrated, wasteful and even petulant. The game was level at 1-1 until
the 88th minute, Lee Molyneux's run and calm finish securing the game for the
Black Cats.
Saturday was the first time in a
long, long time that I've came away from a Sunderland
game happy. Not feeling cheated, short-changed, angry, frustrated or plain
sick. Nothing gives me greater pleasure than seeing eleven footballers pull on
that red and white shirt and give their all for our club. What rankles with me
is that we've seen precious little of it at first team level this season. We've
lurched from one week to the next with no end in sight to the misery we continue to see. We all know where we are heading and I needn't spell that out for
much longer. Wins for Hull and Swansea
at the weekend have sealed our fate without Sunderland
kicking a ball. Our destiny has been realized long before now. At
least now I know I can take heart from what I saw at Eppleton. Eleven guys who were
straining every sinew to win a game of football for our club. The one silver
lining from the huge grey cloud that has descended on Wearside is that when we do call
on some of these lads in The Championship next season, we'll not feel short changed,
cheated or angry. What they lack in ability, they'll more than make up for in
energy, work rate and enthusiasm. We'll be getting behind them, because they'll
be giving everything they've got for SAFC, which is more than can be said of
some of our senior players this season, right?
