Rockin's rant

After a fantastic run of results recently, we were brought back down to earth with a bang and a poor performance to go with it. After the weekend’s 2-0 win over Barnsley Keane brought Hysen and Yorke back into the team for Wallace and Liam Miller. Stoke were there for the taking, and maybe the players took it too lightly.

The first half was quite a scrappy affair with neither side taking the game by the scruff of the neck. As a result of this both sides were able to carve out a few decent chances but nothing clear cut for either team. Out of the two, Stoke looked the strongest in attack with their two big centre forwards; we never looked able to cope with them which left us vulnerable to high balls. Midway into the first half and the sucker punch came, after some frankly abysmal defending from the lads the Stoke midfielder was left to stroll towards the box with the ball and unleash a shot which was unfortunately knocked into his own net by Darren Ward. Moans and groans echoed throughout the stadium, though they weren’t to last too long. Straight after Stoke had scored the lads broke down the right wing, and a fantastic cross from Leadbitter was comfortably knocked back from David Connolly for the on running Dean Whitehead, who unleashed a terrific low drive into the bottom corner. 1-1 and back in the game again. After a good period of 5-10 minutes nothing came from the pressure we managed to build up and we looked lacklustre, almost nervous of the possibility of moving into second place. The game began to fade out towards half time, which we needed so we could regroup to show any kind of drive to winning. However, after more woeful defending Sunderland succumbed to another goal from Stoke. The lads had numerous chances to get rid of the danger, but the Stoke midfielder was given far too much time on the ball in the box and was able to lash a shot past Ward.

Half time score 1-2

The second half began where the first had left off and we were still very poor. Stoke where happy with their 1-2 lead and simply sat back into a well organised defensive unit whenever we crossed the half way line, though they were still dangerous on the attack. We were far too slow on the attack and something needed to be changed, Wallace had been brought on for Jonny Evans at half time who appeared to be injured, and Daryl Murphy came on for Stern John who’d been poor throughout the game. Murphy brought some much needed strength and pace to the game and looked lively, it was just unfortunate that the other nine outfield players didn’t appear to want it as much as Murphy. We had much of the ball without really creating any chances, once we were into the final third of the field our attacking ability fell away. We simply couldn’t break Stoke down who were very well organised, something which we’ve struggled with throughout the season with the likes of Crystal Palace and Preston coming to Sunderland only to aggravate us. The fans began to feel annoyed and let down by the performance we were given after such a promising run this side of the year. Stoke could have went 1-3 up with a cheeky flick from their striker which thankfully came back off the post and was cleared away from danger. With minutes ticking away it looked like we’d be heading away with nothing from the match. However, after our corner was half cleared Leadbitter flicked the ball back into the box which was flicked on by Nosworthy and smashed home by Daryl Murphy. 2-2 and after an awful performance it was greatly received and with other results going our way it could have been worse.

MOTM – Difficult to single one player out as they were all equally poor, despite being part of the defence which conceded two goals Danny Collins was the best performer on the pitch.

It's good to be late - Stoke report

The regular need for late goals is either the sign of a poor team scraping out a result or a good team that has battered the opposition into submission so much they can’t hold on much longer. I think up until tonight’s game it’s been the latter but reflecting on tonight’s last minute equaliser, I think it’s a mixture of the two. We played poorly and didn’t deserve the goal but it’s our confidence and the games in the past (Derby most recently) where we’ve kept the belief that we can always get something however late on. It’s a quality the sets the best from the rest I believe.

After the dramas of the ‘bus 3’ escapades at the weekend, Hysen and Fulop were back involved. Stokes, presumably still in the doghouse for it not being his first wrongdoing, sat out again. Yorke was a welcome return to the side too.

Stoke have a load of massive blokes in their team, and Liam Lawrence. To say they are just physical and lump the ball forward all the time is a little unfair though. The can play decent stuff and do have some fairly talented players. But if you not let them bully you, you stand a good chance of beating them.

The game took a fairly predictable pattern of being scrappy with no team getting a foothold, early on though it was evident when they got the ball up front quickly they won most of the balls in the air and Evans and Nosworthy weren’t their most comfortable.

They were coping though and weathering it until Darren Ward decided to throw a Darel Russell shot from the edge of the box into his own net. It was a decent strike but it was straight at him and you’d back him to snap it up every time. This time however, it squirmed underneath his body and over the line.

It’s a long time since we’ve been a goal down in game. How would we react? Very well as it happens. Leadbitter had the ball on the right just after the restart, crossed to Connolly who chested it down to Whitehead who hit a great shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. Back on level terms.

You felt now that there was only one team going to win it, they’d had their chance. Hysen and John both found themselves through on goal but a good save and poor finish respectively kept Stoke in it. All the while they were a threat on the break, and they got men forward quickly.

On the stroke of half time a free kick was given to Stoke and after more uncertainty in clearing from the box, the ball fell to Hoefkens who lashed in Stokes 2nd at the worst possible time.

It was clear words would be said at half time, this was a poor display by recent standards and we’d given away 2 poor goals. Nosworthy was having his worst game for several months and Evans looked like a 19 year old, inexperienced defender for once.

Second half and Evans failed to appear, presumably for the injury he picked up in the first half. Wallace replaced him with Collins moving across to partner Nosworthy. Stoke used every usual trick in the book to slow the game down and succeeded. They did their jobs very well and their game plan was spot on. They marked up tight and got men behind the ball. Murphy and Miller came on but there was no great siege on the Stoke goal. Plenty of crosses came in but so often they went near post and the keeper snapped them up, either that or it was Murphy or Connolly crossing with no-one in the box. You felt if we got a goal we’d go on to get the winner but with full time looming it was clear any result would do.

On the stroke on 90 minutes, a Hysen corner came over, after a bit frantic action the ball came back to Leadbitter who fed the ball back in. It went over everybody and fell nicely to an unmarked Murphy at the back post who smacked in the equaliser. It was a very welcome goal and as the game restarted the fourth official stuck 4 minutes up on the board. Surely a winner was too much to ask for? Well yes. But given the performance and the goal so late, it was a good result. Tinged with disappointment that we didn’t get all 3 but you can’t win them all. The rest of the results tonight prove that.

I think the late goal tonight is just as important as the one against Derby. It keeps our unbeaten run going, it’s not lost us ground on anyone and it’s kept the belief in the squad that anything is possible. Expect a return to form against Hull on Saturday.

Man of the Match – Grant Leadbitter

Report by marcopaul