This was a great battling win in a very rough and tumble match but we again showed character in coming from behind to send our fans home happy.
BEFORE
After last Saturday’s epic win I’m looking forward to another three points this afternoon. Norwich are currently in twelfth spot and their form has been very mixed though they’ve scored more goals than us, largely due to the league’s top scorer Sainz. They’ve also conceded almost twice as many goals as us and that’s a stat I like. Callum Doyle, who did so well for us on loan a few years back, may well be playing for them today too. Poveda is fit again and may feature as a sub so we’ll see what he has to offer. I’ll be at the game in the East Stand and my match prediction is 2-1 to us.
There was a strong wind as I walked over to the stadium and that would no doubt be a factor in the match. I got to the ground at 2.20 and checked the team-news to find that the only change from last Saturday was that O’Nien was starting in place of Hume, who was on the bench. Two of my friends were ill and the remaining friend’s match prediction was also 2-1 to us. I held aloft my ‘crowd display material’ along with most other people in the East Stand until the teams emerged and soon we were off.
THE GAME
We won our first corner in the fourth minute but it only resulted in a free-kick to Norwich. We were soon back on the attack when Mayenda burst down the left and crossed but Roberts couldn’t quite reach it. Sainz had his first sniff in the seventh though he only succeeded in putting the ball out for a goal-kick to us. There were a couple of sizeable pieces of white paper blowing around the pitch and I could see them interfering with play unless they were removed. Next thing Hernandez’s boot connected with Ballard’s face and no card was issued and Ballard soon recovered. We were creating some flowing moves although the final pass was too often going astray. In the twenty-first Patto had to dive low to his right to turn a shot out for a corner and when the corner came over he made another good block but he had no chance when Ben Slimane smashed the ball in from close range and we were behind. That brought the Norwich fans alive at last.
Norwich looked threatening on the break and a long-distance Nunez shot wasn’t far over the bar. We won another corner in the twenty-ninth and as usual it came to nothing. There was a bit of handbags on the half-way line when a Norwich player went down like a sack of shite without being touched and that didn’t go down at all well with our fans. The game was threatening to boil over unless referee Leigh Doughty got a grip on it. We’d switched wingers with Roberts moving over to the left and Mayenda going the other way. Half-time was approaching and could we nick an equalizer before then? Norwich won their second corner in the fortieth and after the Norwich fans were shouting for handball Mayenda got knocked over and we were awarded a free-kick. Norwich had escaped any cards so far but O’Nien joined Isidor in the book. There was one minute of added-time during which a low Roberts shot went narrowly wide but it remained 0-1 as the whistle went, to much booing for the officials. It had been a below par performance from us and we’d have to raise our game in the second-half.
It was bloody freezing during the break but Quinny warmed our cockles when he came on to make the draw and was then interviewed beside the pitch. He made a good crack about Denis Wise and received a great ovation.
Our cockles were warmed further just after the break when Ballard headed the equalizer from close range, getting on the end of a pass from Mayenda on the right following a free-kick. That lad’s becoming a goal-machine. Norwich were still putting together some pacy moves and it was shaping up to be a humdinger of a second period. Mayenda was fouled just to the right of their box in the fifty-second and there were cheers for a Norwich booking. The free-kick was blocked but we soon had another corner though it floated past all our attackers. The ref dished out a couple of yellows to Norwich to match their shirts and my mate suggested we’d have a red card before long. Our fans were in good voice as we approached the final quarter of the game. Isidor went down injured in their box as he shaped up to shoot but he was soon back in play.
We made our first change in the sixty-seventh when Hume replaced O’Nien. Soon after that Isidor made another burst from the half-way line like in the Hull game and bore down on goal with a couple of defenders in hot pursuit but this time his shot went astray as a tackle came in. It all started happening as that red card did arrive for Cordoba, who had to be nudged on his was by a couple of team-mates, and then Jobe fired in a great shot from the left of the box to put us ahead in the seventy-second. When the dust had settled there was a little more than a quarter of an hour to go and with a man advantage things were looking good. With twelve minutes on the clock Patto was forced into tipping away a shot and Norwich made several changes to try and get that equalizer. We started farting about, just passing the ball around in our own half, and I could see that causing trouble which it eventually did when Norwich broke away and hit a post. In the eighty-fourth we made a double switch, bringing on Aouchiche and Alese for Isidor and Cirkin. A short while later Ballard was down injured in our box for a while and he had to go off as Hjelde came on for him. The first shot of Sainz that I really noticed came in the eighty-ninth and he hit it high and very wide. Aouchiche and Alese both made their mark in the short period that they were on and it showed what a strength in depth we now have.
My heart sank when seven minutes of added-time were announced but we saw them out comfortably enough and there was an amusing moment when the ball blew away a couple of times as Norwich attempted to take a free-kick. It ended 2-1 to much jubilation.
My books of Sunderland memories including ‘AWY! AWY! AWY! Being a Sunderland Fan 1962-2022’ are all available at A Love Supreme, both in store and online. If you want to get it in time for Christmas, you can order for click & collect.
