A Huge Blow

After months of waiting for this game, in order to celebrate Brian's 50th birthday, we arrived at the SOL in buoyant mood on the back of 8 straight wins. Seats organised for the Black Cats Bar, and excellent crowd to be with, George, Hodgy, Ian, and Colin, the afternoon got off to a grand start with the happy hour and cheap beer. Photo's dutifully taken, we found our way to the seats and settled down, in anticipation of an entertaining match, with one side looking to push on at the top of the table and another looking to cement a place in the play offs.

It was never going to be a classic this game but by the same token it was a game I could not see Sunderland losing. The first half saw all the enterprising football come from Sunderland and whilst they never looked like scoring they never looked like conceding a goal either. Certainly the better side by halftime and in true SAFC fashion a 0-0 at the whistle.

Into the Black Cats bar at half time and Hodgy was already there getting the pints in, so I quickly got in line behind him and got another round, just so we wouldn't go thirsty. Good crack during the interval and optimism that we would go on and win the game. Didn't hear the birthday greeting at the halftime interval that we'd arranged for Brian. Never mind.

We looked comfortable.

We hadn't got back into our seats when Julio Arca put us 1-0 up with a rare header. Usually Juio's goals are pretty spectacular efforts which involve his quick feet, but this one was a simple header into an empty and unguarded net. It was a little strange to see Michael Ingham in goal for the second half, Myrhe apparently had pulled a muscle in his back. Quite how he did it is beyond me. I can't recall him having a save to make.

At 70 minutes we looked to have the game well under control and Reading never got close though Kitson was bit of a handful, then out of the blue Lawrence was substitued and replaced by Whitley. Lawrence, whilst being unspectacular did give us some width, seemed to be playing well within himself and didn't appear to be carrying any injuries. The effect was apparent immediately. We lost our shape, our width and with no outlet to get us out down the right Reading started to press us back. It quickly paid dividends with Kitson scoring, what looked like from our angle, a fairly scrappy goal and got Reading back on level terms. Ingham did look culpable to me and brought back memories of his last 1st team appearance when Huddersfield thumped us in the Coca Cola Cup back in 2003.

Immediate response by McCarthy, bring off Brown and replace him with Deane. Quite why I don't yet understand. I know Deane has physical presence, is good in the air and is a proven target man. In order to use him to his strengths you need to get the ball to him and to do that you need width. Lawrence was gone in place of Whitley, neither Arca nor McCartney had got behind their Right back all afternoon and no one played a ball into Deane in an area where it would hurt Reading.

Cue Jeff Whitley, to deliver a tackle that he didn't need to in an area that will always end up in a spot kick and bingo, Kitson makes it 1-2 from the penalty spot. Out of the jaws of victory we suffer a defeat, and the blame has to be laid squarely at the feet of Mick McCarthy. His substitutions were blunders of monumental proportions made worse by the fact that at 1-0 he thought we had the game won, were cruising and all he needed to do was stiffen the defence by putting in a defensive midfielder. It's blunders like this that people remember and it can undermine all the good work that has gone before.

So then it's 4 games to go, Wigan are right back in it with a 2-0 win at Cardiff. Ipswich play on Monday night and both will have been bolstered by us losing today. They can again sniff hope were there was once none. On to Ipswich in 8 days time, live on SKY and I reckon a defeat.

It ain't over yet, not by a long chalk and this could go to the final game and it could all end in tears yet again.

People have asked me today "will you be back next season?". Well I've broke the habit now, found other things to do on a Saturday, I am no longer as miserable as I once was and on this showing Sunderland have an awful long way to go to convince me, and thousands like me, that it is worth shelling out hundreds of pounds a season to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune