Malcolm Dawson writes…….at half time Pete Sixsmith’s text was less than complimentary about our opponents who he feels reflect the attitude and personality of their manager. Watching on TV there were some obvious examples of what some might call acceptable gamesmanship and others underhand.
But with a 1-0 lead at the three quarter mark I was still apprehensive about whether or not we’d hang on and even with only a minute left the butterflies were fluttering in my stomach.
How Pete was feeling at Fratton park he’ll doubtlessly let us know when he eventually gets round to filing his match report. For now let’s make do with his 7 word verdict.
Jake says “WhooooooHoooo”!
16 May 2019 Portsmouth 0 (o) Sunderland 0 (0) Disciplined and controlled from start to finish.
11 May 2019 Sunderland 1 (0) Portsmouth 0 (0) Deserved, thanks to gutsy second half performance.
4 May 2019 Southend United 2 (1) Sunderland 1 (0) Deserved nothing. Southend kept going. We didn’t.
30 April 2019 Fleetwood Town 2 (0) Sunderland 1 (1) Lost any semblance of control after leading/More points dropped to an average team/Lost – worst league finish in our history
27 April 2019 Sunderland 1 (1) Portsmouth 1 (1) A frustrating result against unpleasant opponents
22 April Peterborough United 1(0) Sunderland 1 (0) Bitterly disappointed at the end. Automatic gone
19 April 2019 Sunderland 2 (2) Doncaster Rovers 0 (0) The manager gambled and it came off
13 April 2019 Sunderland 4 (3) Coventry City 5 (3) Incredible but for all the wrong reasons
09 April Sunderland 1(1) Burton Albion 1 (1) Looked a tired side against sprightly opposition
06 April Rochdale 1 (1) Sunderland 2 (0) Had to battle for a huge win.
April 2 Accrington Stanley 0 (0) Sunderland 3 ( 2 ) Comfortable win with some excellent individual performances
March 31 EFL Checkatrade Trophy final: Sunderland 2 (1) Portsmouth 2 (0) (AET. Portsmouth win on penalties.)
*Penalties gloom as Lads fade after interval.
March 16 Sunderland 2 (1) Walsall 1 (1) Nervy and edgy but it’s three points
March 12 Barnsley 0 (0) Sunderland 0 (0) Difficult opponents, difficult conditions: a good point
March 9 Wycombe Wanderers 1 (1) Sunderland 1 (0) We’ll take the point and move on
March 5 Checkatrade trophy semifinal: Bristol Rovers 0 (0) Sunderland 2 (1) Controlled performance means we’re off to Wembley
March 2 Sunderland 2 (1) Plymouth Argyle 0 (0) Great first half followed by competent second
February 23 Bristol Rovers 0 (0) Sunderland 2 (1) Rather a good day at the office
February 19 Sunderland 4 (2) Gillingham 2 (2) Not entirely convincing but it’s a win
February 15 Sunderland (0) 2 Accrington Stanley (1) 2 Two points dropped but grateful for one
February 12 Sunderland (0) 1 Blackpool (1) 1 Two chances missed equals two lost points
February 9 Oxford United (0) 1 Sunderland (1) 1Scunthorpe all over again. Two points wasted
February 2 2019 Sunderland 1 (0) AFC Wimbledon 0 (0) A welcome win but hard to watch
Checkatrade Trophy quarterfinals: January 22 Sunderland 2 (1) Manchester City Under 21s 0 (0) Clean sheet, two goals and a semifinal
January 19 Scunthorpe United 1 (0) Sunderland 1 (o) Same old story. One goal rarely enough
January 12 Sunderland 1 (1) Luton 1 (0) Failure to build on lead costs us
January 5 Charlton (0) 1 Sunderland (1) 1 * Sunderland weather storm to earn useful point
January 1 Blackpool (0) 0 Sunderland (1) 1Outstanding performance by Maja earns the points
December 29 Sunderland (1) 1 Shrewsbury Town (1) 1 A very frustrating afternoon. Never got going
December 26 Sunderland (1) Bradford City (0) 0 Hard fought win and thanks to linesman
December 22 Portsmouth (0) 3 Sunderland (0) 1 Better side until Loovens’s idiocy turned game
December 15 Sunderland 2 (1) Bristol Rovers 1 (1) * Just enough quality snuffs out the gas and Gas pressure tests us at the end
December 11 FA Cup 2nd Round replay Sunderland 0 (0) Walsall 1 (0) Pedestrian performance that raises some serious doubts
December 8 Accrington Stanley A (0) Match Abandoned Sunderland (0) Wet, wet, wet and to do again
December 1 Walsall 1 (0) strong>Sunderland 1 (0) *Fifteen minutes of Walsall pressure means replay
Nov 27 Sunderland 4 (3) Barnsley 2 (1) An important win with some shaky moments
Nov 24 Walsall 2 (2) Sunderland 2 (2) Even more heroic than Thermopylae and Agincourt
Nov 17 Sunderland 1 (0) Wycombe Wanderers 1 (0) A fair result after a disappointing performanceI
Nov 13 Morecambe 0 (0) Sunderland 1 (0) Left it late but the run continues
Nov 11 Port Vale 1 (1) Sunderland 2 (2) Negotiated a tricky tie successfully. Southport next?
Nov 3 Plymouth Argyle (0) 0 Sunderland (0) 2* Solid team performance earns another away win*
Oct 27 Sunderland 3 (1) Southend United 0 (0) Three goals and another clean sheet. Great
Oct 23 Doncaster Rovers 0 Sunderland 1 (0) Winning ugly is just fine by me.
Oct 20 Shrewsbury Town 0 (0) Sunderland 2 (0) A comfortable win that just oozed professionalism
Oct 6 Bradford City 1 (0) Sunderland 2 (1) Great win but Power made it difficult
Oct 2 Sunderland 2 (1) Peterborough 2 (0) Good point but spoiled by woeful refereeing
Sept 29 Coventry City (0) 1 Sunderland (0) 1 Fair result that could have been worse
Sept 22 Sunderland 4 (3) Rochdale 1 (0) Fifteen minute purple patch wrapped this up
Sept 15 Burton Albion 2 (2) Sunderland 1 (o) Weaknesses horribly exposed in a deserved defeat
Sept 8 Sunderland 1 (1) Fleetwood Town 1 (1) Huffed and puffed against very difficult opponents
Sept 4 Sunderland 0 (0) [4] Stoke City U21s 0 (0) [2] *Decent workout for young guns and recoverees
Sept 1 Sunderland 1 (0) Oxford United 1 (1 ) Poor first half, dug in well second
Aug 19 Sunderland 3 (3) Scunthorpe United 0 (0) Iron pummeled as three lusty blows delivered
Aug 16 Carabao Cup: Sunderland (0) 0 Sheffield Wednesday (1) 2 Result disappointing but plenty to enthuse about
Aug 11 Luton Town (0) 1 Sunderland (1) 1 Played well in patches against solid opposition
Aug 4 Sunderland (0) 2 Charlton Athletic (1) 1 A great day for club and academy
July 21 St Mirren (0) 0 Sunderland (2) 6* Cracking results like this will suit fine
July 17 Grimsby Town (0) Sunderland (1) 1*Gooch’s header from Maguire’s cross settles matters
July 14 Hartlepool United (1) 1 Sunderland (0) 1 Yet to see anything to inspire confidence
July 10 Darlington (1) 1 Sunderland (0) 0 Embarrassing
7 thoughts on “Sixer’s playoff Seven: Lads hold out for second trip to Wembley”
One thing I hope for is that we don’t try to recreate the Trafalgar Square gathering. It was fantastic and a memory I will treasure for a long time. It will not be as good trying to do it again when there will be less people there and a more serious match. Far more important, for me, is that other numpties now know about it. If we do it again Millwall, for example, will have a couple of weeks to prepare and it would only take about 20 idiots to cause problems and lead to it looking like a riot that we would then get blamed for.
If we make another final in a few years time then we should definitely go for it but not this time for me. We will be doing a day trip.
Pleased just to ko Pompey. This match summed them up, negative tactics, constant cheating, constant appeals for penalties….. I think SAFC players matured tonight, overcoming these tactics & proud of Luke O’Nien laughing off the Pompey “supporters” abuse. Brialliant performance from every player.
What a performance by those players.
A very proud night.
I’m glad these two matches are behind us. I hate cynical football and that’s become a Portsmouth trademark. But well done The Lads for just playing their own game and not being drawn into it.
There was a lot made by some Portsmouth players about Sunderland’s post match reaction after Saturday’s win, totally overlooking the fact that the walk around the ground was not to do with that victory, but was a show of appreciation to the fans for their support all season, something which has happened for many years now.
They were up to their old tricks again – especially Nathan Thompson who early in the second half committed a foul then rolled around clutching his face.
Thankfully the ref had a decent game tonight. Perhaps he’d reflected on his sending off of Glenn Loovens in the league game and had seen Ozturk’s sending off on Saturday and was determined not to make any rash decisions tonight. That said, I thought Maguire was unlucky to get a yellow when he lost his footing as there was no intent to foul the player.
The idiot who threw the flare at the SoL is in court soon and should be receiving a banning order – let’s hope that big oaf who appeared to kick Luke O’Nien gets one too.
How nice of the Portsmouth neanderthals to quickly gather around young Luke when he decided to pay them a visit in the second half. That they were so quick to gather around and congratulate him on his exceptional performance by heartily slapping him on the back and any other bodily part they could reach made me proud. Though I do have this piece of advice – if you are likely to appear on national TV when attending a game make sure you put your teeth in.
Malcolm Dawson writes…….at half time Pete Sixsmith’s text was less than complimentary about our opponents who he feels reflect the attitude and personality of their manager. Watching on TV there were some obvious examples of what some might call acceptable gamesmanship and others underhand.
One thing I hope for is that we don’t try to recreate the Trafalgar Square gathering. It was fantastic and a memory I will treasure for a long time. It will not be as good trying to do it again when there will be less people there and a more serious match. Far more important, for me, is that other numpties now know about it. If we do it again Millwall, for example, will have a couple of weeks to prepare and it would only take about 20 idiots to cause problems and lead to it looking like a riot that we would then get blamed for.
If we make another final in a few years time then we should definitely go for it but not this time for me. We will be doing a day trip.
Pleased just to ko Pompey. This match summed them up, negative tactics, constant cheating, constant appeals for penalties….. I think SAFC players matured tonight, overcoming these tactics & proud of Luke O’Nien laughing off the Pompey “supporters” abuse. Brialliant performance from every player.
What a performance by those players.
A very proud night.
I’m glad these two matches are behind us. I hate cynical football and that’s become a Portsmouth trademark. But well done The Lads for just playing their own game and not being drawn into it.
There was a lot made by some Portsmouth players about Sunderland’s post match reaction after Saturday’s win, totally overlooking the fact that the walk around the ground was not to do with that victory, but was a show of appreciation to the fans for their support all season, something which has happened for many years now.
They were up to their old tricks again – especially Nathan Thompson who early in the second half committed a foul then rolled around clutching his face.
Thankfully the ref had a decent game tonight. Perhaps he’d reflected on his sending off of Glenn Loovens in the league game and had seen Ozturk’s sending off on Saturday and was determined not to make any rash decisions tonight. That said, I thought Maguire was unlucky to get a yellow when he lost his footing as there was no intent to foul the player.
The idiot who threw the flare at the SoL is in court soon and should be receiving a banning order – let’s hope that big oaf who appeared to kick Luke O’Nien gets one too.
How nice of the Portsmouth neanderthals to quickly gather around young Luke when he decided to pay them a visit in the second half. That they were so quick to gather around and congratulate him on his exceptional performance by heartily slapping him on the back and any other bodily part they could reach made me proud. Though I do have this piece of advice – if you are likely to appear on national TV when attending a game make sure you put your teeth in.
I loved Pete’s two-word verdict: ‘Done it.’