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Fueled
by reports on the radio, fans were unsure if we would be seeing a new face
in the goalkeeping role today. Just before the game was due to kick off,
the club announced that Rami Shaaban would be starting in place of
Yelldell. Despite his good start, he has been unable to keep up this high
standard - has McGhee has made the right choice....
The
game started well for both sides, and Sunderland's Julio Arca almost made
it 1-0 within the first two minutes. However, Brighton had the stronger
side and with the second shot of the game, took us 1-0 up. Richard
Carpenter completed an excellent volley to get the ball in the
bottom-right of goal.
Sunderland
tried to quickly get one back, however their corner just moments later
resulted in open play.
On
30 minutes, it looked like our luck was up when Virgo got sent off for his
second yellow card. This left us with an hour to play, 1 man down.
The
crowd were behind the team, and especially vocal in today's sell out game.
Just when we thought we would have to hold on to try and keep our 1-0
lead, along came McCammon with a header from the centre of penalty area.
2-0 up against a Sunderland team hoping for promotion...
As
we moved in to the second half, new keeper Shaaban still hadn't needed to
do much work, and what he had done so far was excellent. The Brighton
players were still attacking and going to another goal, however Sunderland
were not giving up yet...
Shots
by Alexis Nicolas and Sean Thornton went over the bar, while Guy Butters
also helped to clear the ball. As the time ticked away, the Sunderland
players got more desperate to get a goal, and this resulted in a number of
bookings.
Despite
this, Julio Arca did finally manage to get Sunderland a goal in the 80th
minute of the game, however this was not enough to win the game.
This
goal in the closing stages gave Sunderland the confidence to go for
another goal, and many even the winning goal. Stephen Wright and Sean
Thornton came close, and the closing shot of the game by Carl Robinson
curled right-footed over the bar.
An
excellent performance! Well done...
Many
fans were not expecting anything from this game, however to come away with
3 points against a team that is hoping to be playing in the Premiership
next season is a huge achievement, and further proof that we can survive
in the Championship.
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AN EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE GETS
WELL DESERVED POINTS...
