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IT WAS as if they had won the league rather than left it. In their final attempt, Sunderland celebrated their first Barclays Premiership victory at the Stadium of Light this season with a peculiar mixture of unconfined joy and bemusement. So this is what it feels like. Supporters danced like dervishes and the team with the worst points total since the top division was rejigged in 1992 even embarked on a sheepish lap of honour. No Football League team have gone through an entire campaign without a win at home, a record that Kevin Ball and his players stood within 90 minutes of breaking. They avoided ignominy, scoring twice on Wearside for only the second occasion since August (the other was an FA Cup tie against Northwich Victoria), and at least they can console themselves with the knowledge that their miserable relegation could have been worse. The enthusiastic, jovial reaction of the fans, who are still drunk on the fantasy of Niall Quinn’s prospective takeover of the club, was extraordinary. “They are a unique breed,” Ball said. “If I was going to war, I would want them in the trenches with me.” Having more than 28,000 good and true at one’s side would help in those difficult circumstances, of course, but the caretaker manager’s point was well made. Fulham were dreadful until the later stages, when Tomasz Radzinski drove in a powerful goal and prompted a flurry of panic and, bizarrely for a match that had nothing but pride and humiliation at stake, a spurt of tension. “I said to the lads beforehand that we had to send the crowd home with a smile on their face and I’m just so pleased for everyone connected to the club in any shape or form,” Ball said. Chris Coleman, whose side had been leading when last month’s original fixture was abandoned because of a waterlogged pitch, was not vituperative. “For 65 minutes, we really didn’t play very well at all,” the Fulham manager said, “but I’m not embarrassed. We were playing against another Premiership team and they were better than us, it’s as simple as that. My players had won their previous three games and I’m not going to criticise them.” For the entirety of the evening, gallows humour was in evidence. Antony Le Tallec’s fifth goal of a largely feckless season — he will return to Liverpool after an unproductive loan spell with his career locked in a cul-de-sac — prompted first-half merriment. “We’re s**** but we’re 1-0 up,” fans crowed and, with equal regard to accuracy, “One-nil to the Championship”. Sunderland grasped their rare advantage in the 33rd minute, when Andy Welsh crossed from the left and Le Tallec edged in front of Ian Pearce to direct a glancing header beyond Mark Crossley. Chris Brown, who had scored the previous winning goal in a league match here 12 months ago, extended it when Nyron Nosworthy cut inside from the right and unleashed a vicious shot with his left foot that Crossley could not hold. Delirium followed. SUNDERLAND (4-4-2): K Davis — N Nosworthy, G Breen, G Caldwell, G McCartney — J Hoyte (sub: K Kyle, 75min), T Miller, D Whitehead, A Welsh — C Brown, A Le Tallec (sub: D Murphy, 81). Booked: Caldwell, McCartney, Whitehead. FULHAM (4-4-2): M Crossley — L Rosenior, P Christanval, I Pearce (sub: M Brown, 69), W Bridge — L Boa Morte (sub: T Radzinski, 18), P Boupa Diop, S Elliott, S Malbranque — B McBride (sub: C John, 60), H Helguson. Booked: Elliott, Pearce, Bridge. Referee: M Riley. HOME TRUTHS
It was the first time the home fans have seen their side collect three points in the top flight since the 2-1 win over Liverpool on December 15, 2002, ending the winless run at 28 matches (during which they scored 15 goals and conceded 56). Sunderland will still set a lowest points total for a Premiership season — worse than their 19 in 2002-03. If they win away to Aston Villa on Sunday, they will, however, avoid a record of fewest wins in a Premiership season. |
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