Imps Rewind: City 2-0 Sunderland

Knowing their bench, knowing the strength and depth they have, I expected a second period in which we held on valiantly under an ever-increasing onslaught. Their attack hadn’t been effective in the first half; Charlie Wyke had really disappointed me from a football writer’s perspective. I’ve followed his Sunderland career closely, his injury hell, the threat of being replaced by Grigg and now his first-team inclusion and I expected a real tough afternoon for our defence. It didn’t happen. Despite his elbows, shirt-pulling and sneaky digs, he brought nothing more than Accrington’s Colby Bishop or Fleetwood’s Paddy Madden. Neal Eardley wrestled him on occasion and won, Shacks certainly had the measure of him, with Bolger on hand to ensure the job was never in doubt.

As expected, they came out with a bit of purpose, Max Power’s early ball went across the face of goal before Conor McLaughlin headed wide when hitting the target was easier. However, as they pushed forward our players found more and more space. Bruno was simply superb, strong on the ball, tricky on the run and always a danger. I thought our threat would come down the left but we were equally as effective from both flanks. Whenever Sunderland’s attack broke down, Vickers made sure a good delivery meant a break for us. It wasn’t end to end as such, but it had enough to keep a neutral entertained.

With ten minutes of the second half gone we got the chance to make it 2-0. Bruno had De Bock blended and served with ice once again, this time the Belgian could only take a leaf out of Charlie Wyke’s book and manhandle our wide man to the floor. Cue Huxtable pointing to the spot, dispelling my belief he wouldn’t give us a penalty under any circumstances, and up stepped Tyler to seemingly make it 2-0. His penalty had everything, power, direction and confidence, but it didn’t catch the right bit of the post and bounced back out. Immediately the board went up: McNulty and McGeady were coming on.

I’m a pessimist at times and when I saw that pair making their entrance after a spot-kick miss, I feared for us. Aiden McGeady is a key player for them and McNulty had started the season well. Never mind that McNulty played against us in League Two for Coventry, or that McGeady is approaching his mid-thirties, that mystique built up once again. It’s Sunderland, they’re a big club, etc.

The next chance fell to Tyler Walker and he showed such character to make it 2-0. So much for big-name subs and reputations. Bruno made it, whipping in a delicious cross for Tyler to execute a smart finish ahead of the centre backs. Again, it was a gamble of a run and again, the delivery paid off. Cue delirium in the home and a steady flow of fans out of the away end.

The neat football continued from us, the little exchanges between Payne and whichever full back and winger he was supporting were a joy to watch. Joe Morrell’s driving runs and clever passes only served to accentuate the slick football on show. When that broke down we chased back, Michael O’Connor screening the back four and both full backs and centre backs rarely caught out. On the rare occasions they did get a chance, their own lack of confidence showed. Luke O’Nien smashed an effort over from ten yards when he could have easily bagged, but up the other end, Jack Payne’s 25-yard effort was easily stopped by McLaughlin.

There was an unsavoury incident towards the end of the game, one in which Aiden McGeady was both unlucky and lucky at the same time. One of our fans made contact with McGeady’s face during a break in play; slap or tap it’s not on. He reacted and was booked. I think he was unlucky to be confronted by the supporter, but the second he’s raised a hand to someone in the crowd he has to go, surely? It would have been incredibly harsh, but you can’t react to supporters no matter how silly their behaviour is.

With no game on Tuesday, Michael Appleton saw fit to leave Walker on for the whole game, bringing Jake Hesketh and Callum Connolly into the fray. Both applied themselves well and the changes didn’t affect our own flow. Charlie Wyke had a late effort he lashed wide, but aside from that scare it was a comfortable final 15 minutes. Their fans streamed out before the final whistle and left their players and manager in no doubt as to how they felt about the afternoon’s football.

I left the ground feeling elated. It wasn’t just the win, a vital one which keeps our dignity intact after a tough start. It wasn’t even beating a big club in our own backyard either; for me it was the continuation of that improvement we saw over the summer. We all know that last season fizzled out, that after winning at MK Dons the foot came off the gas a bit. We know that we started this season like a team with purpose, but that we’ve been derailed. I had the fear coming over me that we’d gone a long way backwards, that the team we saw early doors had gone.

This was almost a better version of that side. I know there is a long way to go, but in tweaking the 4-2-3-1 to a 4-4-2, we’ve got a player closer to Tyler Walker. We managed to retain control of the midfield area in the game but still have a double threat in the box. Our own bench isn’t bad either; two exciting Premier league loan players coming on gave us an injection of energy as the game began to draw out.

I’m not looking at this in the context of one win, as good as it was. It’s not a game like Everton, a cup match in which we can take positives without implications. This was the ‘real deal’, the bread and butter. As a home game, it doesn’t get a lot harder than Sunderland in League One and yet we managed to come out of it with a win and a clean sheet. We shouldn’t be entirely surprised at the clean sheet. aside from the Oxford debacle, no team has scored past us in open play at home. We are strong, we are fluent upfront and we are still a good side.

Michael Appleton is driving the loco and if his side shows this passion, commitment and ability through the rest of the campaign, we’ll be in the top half by the time our maiden season in League One is complete. Last night, I slept soundly and without worry for the future and if I’m being honest, it’s the first time I felt such comfort since the weekend of thew Wycombe fixture. I think we’re in safe hands.

Final Page – Gallery of images from the game