Sunderland 2 – 0 West Bromwich Albion
Finally! It feels like a massive weight has been lifted and the stress which was
beginning to build, has been replaced with a vast amount of hope for the rest of the season. All the pre-match talk in and around the ground seemed to be the seemingly imminent arrival of one Roy Maurice Keane (Keano as we’ll probably affectionately know him), is he the man for the job? How will he and Quinn get on…don’t they hate each other? Today’s game, it seemed, was an insignificant sideshow we all had to sit through before the revolution could take yet another turn.
Before the game had even started chants of ‘There’s only one Keano’ rang out around the ground and there was an air of optimism for the game. The players knew they’d have to give their all to impress the on looking Keane.
We started the brighter of the two teams, having four corners within the opening
seven minutes, however, none of the corners made much of an impact. We had lots of possession throughout the first half, but didn’t make any real use of it.
Debutant Tobias Hysen should have scored on the eleventh minute mark, but his effort went wide from six yards out and Browny saw his effort go sailing into the crowd from a similar area. It was beginning to seem like ‘one of those days’ where we have lots of the ball but don’t score from it and the other team snatch an undeserved goal.
Thanks to Dean Whitehead’s curling corner, today was not going to be the same as we’ve witnessed so far. Whitehead’s corner curled straight in and left many of us confused as to what had happened, half of the ground cheered, the other looked at each other puzzled with murmured cheers going around. Then, after what seemed an eternity, the linesman flagged to signal it was a goal.
Whitehead was exceptional during the first half, a performance which has been a long time coming. For the rest of the half we had a comfortable grip on the game, West Brom never looked threatening, despite the easiness of the first half we didn’t get another clear cut chance in the half.
As half time came, the atmosphere was bouncy but still cautious of the opposition’s ability to come back out and beat us. After all in the two games we’ve taken the lead this season, we’ve managed to steal defeat out of the jaws of victory.
Half Time SAFC 1 – 0 WBA
When so called ‘legend’ Kevin Phillips came on at the beginning of the second half, he was greeted with more boo’s than cheering, most of the home support could have be forgiven for thinking he was a certain to scorer against us. KP however, made little impact on the game and seemed way short of the player he was.
Any nerves we had for the second half were quickly lost when Neil Collins, the
better Collins, scored a fantastic header from a well delivered Hysen free kick. The revolution is up and running.
Whatever had been said at half time had certainly inspired the lads. Whether Keane had any input is unknown, but the players definitely had been lifted and their confidence had come back. It was like watching a different team, every player wanted to have the ball and express themselves, which has been missing all this season and the majority of last season.
We passed the ball well and were never troubled by West Brom. Whenever the baggies went on attack we never looked like conceding and were comfortable all over the park. As in the first half we had lots of the ball, and while we never seemed stretched made few clear cut opportunities.
Even though we played very well during this game, there is still room for
improvement, we still need a natural goal scorer and another centre half as
Cunningham’s pace isn’t what it used to be and the two Collins’ aren’t experienced enough. If today proved anything at all it’s that some of these players have a lot more to offer than previously shown, confidence is a strange thing but ten five minutes into the second half it was there in abundance all over the park.
Previously lacking players were wanting the ball and wanting to express themselves, previously lost causes now seemed worth chasing. If this is the Keano affect then bring it on, plenty more where that came from please.
Man of the Match – Dean Whitehead, closely followed by Chris Brown who worked very hard for the team today and deserved his starting role.
Report by Rockin’ Mackem
