Leaving the ground I was disappointed with the points that we had dropped, but impressed with the never say die attitude of the team. In the past this was the type of game that we would have surrendered once the goal was conceded, but kept on going to show we will not be over-turned no matter how poor the opposition was.
Leicester came to the SoL with a poor record and a team with hardly any class acts, but with effort and solid defending they proved to be a team that was hard to break down and show the 35,000 fans they were not going to be rolled over as many predicted.
The team started with just the one change in the starting squad with Brown in for Connelly and with people predicting a lot of changes from the Elland Road rout it made sense to keep an eleven who were hungry to make it 6 point out of 6. With Dwight Yorke on the bench this another change in the overall squad and the game started brightly with both teams going forward and creating early chances. Brown had a glancing header just wide but Leicester created the best chance with Alnwick stopping a dangerous cross but the defence clearing a certain goal in the first 25 minutes.
Yorke was introduced to the home fans after Murphy seemed to pull up after going for a block on the Leicester goalkeeper. It is too early to say how serious this injury actually is but a bit worrying with three strikers being injured in only two games. Yorke was never given much time by the defenders but showed he has a cool head and is able to provide great link up play with the midfield. I heard a few sections of the fans around me say he was not fit and tend to agree but overall he showed great touches and a purpose when he did attack the ball.
The first half was to be fair a very dull encounter and the best chance of the half fell to the formidable Stan Varga with a decisive volley palmed out by their goalkeeper to keep the scores level as the game drew to a close after 45 minutes.
The second half opened a little brighter with some good touches from the midfield and a lot more purpose around the ground as the fans bayed for a killer pass to unlock the solid Leicester defence. This hard work was all blown by a very poor Dean Whitehead pass which lead to their goal in the 47th minute. I was generally very unhappy with Deano’s performance and shows why many fan and SMBer have grown to not like him as the Sunderland captain. He was moved to right back into the second half but showed no desire and every pass was either too tricky for the strikers to handle or straight to a blue foxes shirt. This occurred leaving Leicester with acres of time and space and when the ball arrived at Fryatt’s feet he simply tucked the ball into the far corner sending the 400 fans travelling fans into the lead.
We had a very poor 5-10 minutes after they took the lead and Keano decided to shake things up with the introduction of Leadbitter for N.Collins, meaning Deano filling in the right back slot. I am not too sure why this was done, but I didn’t agree with it as he is clearly not a right back!
After 60mins Keano decided to bring on Tobias Hysen for Miller (who again had a quiet game compared to Wednesday evening). By the time I had finished writing my notes about the sub being made, he touched the ball ran around the defender and drilled the ball straight into the back of the net. In his delirium of scoring in front of his new clubs fans, he realised who deserved the most credit by running over the bench to celebrate the decision to get him onto the pitch.
This was a well taken goal, and with Keano after the game praising the Swedish winger, it will be hard to leave him out of his plans for the next game after staking his claim with a solid 30mins when he was on.
The game settled down and barely any chances were made, although there was a big penalty shout from Brown who was shoved in the back, but this was all it was just a claim. The main thing that impressed me during the full game was the partnership that Cunningham and Varga have formed since he arrived after deadline day. Varga was a rock and Cunningham seems to be breathing confidence from his performances.
Although it is only a point against Leicester at home, you have to take the positives in this new era as a Mackem. We have taken 10 points from a possible 12, we have new players gelling together, we have got back many fans who said they would not return and most importantly we have not let anything slip whereas we would of in the past.
Clancey Wiggum – Gary Johnson
