Black Cats lucky to beat Rovers
BATTERED, bruised and maybe a little bit fortunate – that was the verdict after Saturday's 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers.
But while Sam Allardyce's men may have felt aggrieved to have come away from the encounter with nothing to show, the Black Cats can take heart from the fact that despite not being at their best they still emerged victorious.
And what was most pleasing for Steve Bruce's men was the type of football which brought them success.
Not for them the route one long-ball in-your-face approach which has proved so productive for the visitors.
The Black Cats' first goal was a delight to watch, and had it been by Manchester United or Chelsea then the pundits would have been talking about for days.
Still, let's not get too carried away.
There was plenty of stuff to work on, not least the way we were brushed aside at times by Rovers' physical approach.
Bruce did change things around to give us more of a presence at the back, but the visitors could still have levelled if not for some woeful finishing.
Too many times in the past against teams like Blackburn and Bolton Wanderers we have allowed ourselves to be bullied, and if I'm being honest then the back four showed signs of that again on Saturday.
However, we rode our luck, held firm, and managed to come away unscathed in the end.
I've no doubt that Big Sam will feel differently to me, but as pompous as it may sound, Saturday was a victory for football as well as Sunderland.
I remember when the Rovers boss was in charge at St James's Park one of my Newcastle-supporting colleagues described his approach to the beautiful game as "football to make your eyes bleed".
Having sat through Saturday's encounter I think I know where he was coming from.
There's no denying the visitors had us under the cosh for long spells in the first half as we failed to cope with their aerial bombardment.
But it was the niggles, the kicks, the persistent and obvious fouling of a Sunderland defender or keeper Marton Fulop every time the ball went into the area, left a little bit of a sour taste.
I'm well aware that football, as they say, is a man's game, but I'm not sure the way Rovers play is a great advert for football.
Big Sam and Blackburn fans will no doubt disagree with those sentiments, but I won't lose any sleep over that.
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Weather for South Shields
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 9 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 8 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: East
