After 4 wins in a row it was to be that Sunderland were to slip up somewhere along the line. However, it was not to be expected that they would slip up in two consecutive games and that they would do this in such an immensely boring manner. To some, extent, the game against Sheffield in mid-week mirrored the game against the Rams today for their sheer levels of boredom and the distinctly lacklustre showing from a very poor Sunderland side.
The poor performance of Tuesday night had obviously registered with McCarthy as he brought in several changes. Recovering from minor injuries, Julio Arca and Marcus Stewart replaced Carter and Brown respectively whilst Neil Collins came in for Breen, this match being the first of his 3 game suspension.
These team changes, however, failed to change anything about the performance. Once again, Sunderland lacked width, control, passing ability and everything else that is needed to break a side down. They were on the back foot from the start as Poom was called into action 3 times in the first quarter of an hour. It took Sunderland nearly half an hour to win the first corner and when it came it was wasted. The striker were ineffective and this, coupled with the recurrence of Stewart’s thigh injury forced a replacement. Brown came on but did not figure as the remaining 15 minutes of the half became a non-entity, with both teams failing to create. The only positive coming out of the half was the improvement of Caldwell, who, after looking shaky earlier in the season, made some great last-ditch tackles.
After what is hoped was a very stern talking to from McCarthy, the Lads, to their credit did put up a fight. They starting playing width a bit of width as Julio and McCartney became more active and involved. Arca, Whitehead and Elliott all troubled the keeper before Brown saw a good header cleared off the line. This was all during a period in which Sunderland saw most of the most of the possession. Although, this was probably because Derby sat back and, for all their possession, Sunderland rarely looked dangerous. It was Derby who then created the best chance of the game as Poom, again, made a great save low to his left after a good move from County. As expected, during the last ten minutes, Sunderland pushed for the late winner but to no avail. Substitute Lawrence was working hard down the right-wing but failed to create a guilt-edge chance and a boring game, deservedly, finished as a boring draw.
It was all boring really and if he is going to bring back the 20,000 or so fans that have deserted the SOL in recent years, boring football is not what McCarthy wants to see.
Man of the Match: Mart Poom
Final Score: 0-0 (Yawn)
Matthew Woolston
