‘Kieran caught it sweetly, he’s just absolutely drilled it...’
A first derby win on home soil for 28 years, and one of best goals in the club’s modern history.
One of the finest days at the Stadium of Light, though it proved to be the disappointing final high of Roy Keane’s time at the club...
“I was on the halfway line right behind Kieran Richardson when he hit it,” Collins said.
“He could always strike a ball in training could Kieran, and I think the week before he’d scored one against Fulham, but Pascal (Chimbonda) had rolled someone in the wall and it was disallowed.
“That one was more of an up and down one but here he was right on the edge of the box so he’s got to go for power and he’s caught it sweetly.
“He’s just absolutely drilled it, with that little bit of swing to take it away from Shay Given.
“My ears were ringing when it flew in.
“He sprints towards the halfway line and we all just ran towards him, our ears popping because of the noise.
“You could feel the relief in the stadium I think.
“That’s the one game for me in terms of the atmosphere at the Stadium of Light that I played in, it sticks out by a mile for me to be honest.
“We started the game well, Steed (Malbranque) is running down the right and had a sort of cross/shot that (Djibril) Cisse has slid in.
“Shola Ameobi scored at the back post with a header to make it 1-1 at the break and because we’d had a couple of draws with them since getting promoted, you are thinking ‘not again’ a little bit.
“I think on the day we just shaded the game.
“It was a nervy 10 or 15 minutes after Kieran’s freekick but I just remember the mad scenes after and in the following days.
“We did seem to have a good blend then in that we had talented players who could turn a game, and on our day we could mix it with most.
“So it was a bit of a shock to the boys and a bit disappointing when Roy decided to leave the club a few weeks later.”
Sunderland: Fulop, Chimbonda, Ferdinand, Collins, McCartney, Malbranque (Tainio 87), Whitehead, Yorke (Jones 57), Richardson, Cisse, Diouf (Reid 90).
Subs Not Used: Colgan, Bardsley, Chopra, Leadbitter
Goals: Cisse 20, Richardson 75