This was a great victory and after looking like we were going to get hammered after twenty minutes, we fought our way back into the game and put on a powerful second-half performance to which Swansea had no answer. I think we’ve definitely turned a corner and with Leeds dropping two points the battle for an automatic promotion spot is back on.
BEFORE
Losing Watson was a big blow but it's looking like O'Nien will be back for today's match and it's always good to have him in the side. After the way they combined to get our equaliser on Tuesday I'd be happy to see both Roberts and Aouchiche starting too. There's been a lot of debate about whether Isidor should start and I'm all for giving him another go but if he's not succeeding, then we should get Connolly on earlier than we've been making substitutions of late. Some are even suggesting that Abdullahi will be in the starting eleven. Swansea are on the fringes of the play-off spots and are on a good run so it's going to be a tough game. I'm on the train at the moment heading west from Paddington to Swansea, having managed to get a ticket from the London Branch, and I'm really looking forward to the match. There are plenty more of our fans travelling on the same train. Match prediction: 2-1 to us.
After meeting an old workmate who lives in Swansea I got the bus to the stadium and checked the team-news on the way. Cirkin and Roberts were starting in place of Alese and Watson. O’Nien was on the bench. Swansea had made three changes from the side they started with on Tuesday. I was in my seat around 2.45 and I spotted Sobs a few rows in front of me which I of course took as a good omen. There was a minute’s applause for Vic Gomersall, ex-Swansea player who recently died, and both sets of fans joined in.
THE GAME
It was mainly Swansea pressure in the opening stages and then we conceded a free-kick in a dangerous spot on our right in the fourth minute. Jobe cleared it but the ball soon came back into our box and Vipotnik hit a low shot that Patto looked to have covered, but it slid beneath him and we were 1-0 down. We conceded a corner in the eighth when a Cullen shot was deflected and we dealt with it comfortably enough. A few minutes later Ballard made a strong headed clearance as Swansea threatened again. A bloke in front of me said, “It’s not very good, is it?” We conceded another free-kick in a dangerous spot, this time on our left, and Roberts hoofed it clear. Next thing Jobe was yellow-carded for a foul just on the edge of our box and when Cullen took it, the ball it looked to be going over but it dipped in off the crossbar and we were 2-0 down after eighteen minutes. This was looking like a good hiding unless we did something quickly. There was a yellow for Cabango for a blatant foul on Isidor (I think) but as usual we failed to create anything from the resultant free-kick.
We enjoyed a decent period of attacking play as we entered the second quarter of the game but still hadn’t had a real shot on target. We were awarded a free-kick near the right angle of their box in the twenty seventh and I was thinking that we’d just waste it, when Ballard powered a low header into the net and we’d pulled one back.
We started to play with more spirit and the game was flowing more end to end instead of just towards our end. Grimes was down injured for a while and the players had a break. Half-time wasn’t too far away and the game seemed a lot more salvageable than it had fifteen minutes earlier. Play was overshadowed for a short while in our area of the ground while a load of stewards and a cop (Heddlu in Welsh) dealt with some incident over to my left. It was tantalisingly out of view so I couldn’t get to the bottom of it but a lot of people were smiling.
Anyway, back to the football and Swansea had begun to put more pressure on, though now our defence was looking more solid. Swansea won another corner in the forty-third and a low Cabango shot went narrowly wide of our left post. Unsurprisingly three minutes of added-time were announced and I had an ALS summit meeting with Sobs to ask him what all the kerfuffle had been about. He said it had involved a bunch of pissed young lads swearing at all and sundry, lighting fags etc. The Heddlu had caught a lot of it on camera. Patto had to make a diving save in the dying seconds and then the half-time whistle went to muted booing from our end. Actually a lot of fans near me had buggered off downstairs long before the whistle.
I thought the Swansea mascots, a pair of swans of course, were morphing into turkeys till I realised that they were wearing drooping Santa Claus hats. My seat wasn’t much above pitch-level so I was looking forward to seeing the box in front of me being flooded with our attacks in the second-half. I still hoped to see Aouchiche and Connolly on sooner rather than later.
The opening minutes of the second period were even enough and then we won a corner in the fiftieth. Hume took it and a Cirkin header was just over; not too good but better. Shortly afterwards Isidor burst into the box but his shot was well wide. A chorus of, “Sundland till I die” broke out and spirits were improving. In the fifty-seventh Isidor hit the deck clutching his head and the game stopped for a while. He was able to continue. A chorus of, “Shearer is a wanker” filled the gap nicely. Just after the hour-mark Mayenda was fouled near the left angle of their box but the free-kick was easily cleared. Roberts got a couple of good low crosses in from the left and if he could keep managing that, I felt that we’d soon equalise. He had a good shot himself that Vigouroux in goal managed to grab. The momentum was with us.
As we entered the final quarter an equaliser seemed more than possible and we soon won another corner but it was easily headed away at the near post. Next thing we replaced Cirkin with O’Nien. In the seventieth a promising break resulted in Mayenda skying the ball to a cry of, “Get the c*** off!” Perhaps a change was indeed required. Neil answered his detractors in great style by powering into the middle of their box and lashing a great shot into the roof of the net to put us level. I fancied us to get the winner.
Soon enough, a low cross came in from the right and Jobe was steaming in to blast it into the net and we were ahead. Our end went mental and the stand was shaking. Ten minutes to go and we were doing most of the pressing. A few minutes later Mayenda controlled a pass down the left with his head before hitting a low shot that Vigouroux managed to block. Three minutes to go and I dared to dream.
Mayenda had another decent effort that went just wide of the right post and he was duly applauded by many around me. Not a c-word to be heard. Four minutes of added-time were announced. Isidor was yellow-carded and that was about it till the final whistle went and our end exploded with joy.
I was expecting a very long walk back to the city centre but as I left the stadium I spotted a couple of double-deckers hovering in the distance and managed to catch one just before it left. It was one of those days.
Since we won, now is a timely reminder that my book ‘AWY! AWY! AWY! Being a Sunderland Fan 1962-2022’ is available at ALS.
