Cats battle through Town test to cap off positive week
When Max Power last scored against Fleetwood Town, there was delirium and flailing limbs everywhere you looked.
Joey Barton entered the Stadium of Light press room and railed against, well, just about everything. Long balls, celebrations like a World Cup had been won, budgets, the whole works. Twelve months on, the noise that greeted Power's latest goal against the same opposition was very obviously more subdued.
Yet there was no mistaking the passion in the celebration from Power and his teammates, a reflection of a goal even greater in importance than that last-gasp strike.
Momentum had been building on Wearside after a positive week, but it had escaped nobody's attention that Sunderland were yet to register a win against Town since dropping into League One.
At times it has felt like you are only ever a week or two away from a 1-1 draw with Fleetwood. Under Barton and now Simon Grayson, they are a tenacious side with good individual quality and Power's stooped header came at a crucial moment.
Even behind closed doors, you could sense the release of pressure. At that moment of the game Sunderland were wobbling just ever so slightly. Injuries had again forced Lee Johnson to name a make shift back four and after Aid en O' Brien had put his side ahead, the response from the visitors was strong.
The Black Cats were having to absorb a lot of pressure, and clear countless balls fired into their box.
It felt apt that the first on the scene to celebrate Power's goal was Dion Sanderson.
The 21-year-old has had to become the leader of the Sunderland defence in the absence of so many senior options and is growing by the game. At Burton Albion on Saturday, he had been superb in possession and resilient in defence, his main challenge being the aerial threat of Lucas Akins.
As Johnson noted after this game, that is not his strong point and yet here he had been dominant. His improvement is rapid and his poise crucial in helping Sunderland through the moments of difficulty that followed their opening goal.
They had to work hard for that initial opening.
It was credit again to Johnson that a pro-active change at the break helped his side find the lift in tempo they needed.
In the first half they had slowly established control of the game, Fleetwood initially taking control with a direct and energetic approach.
Sunderland gradually improved, but around the box they were lacking a touch of composure and there were moments where Johnson felt they had missed an opportunity to be quicker and braver in possession.
Both Head Coach and players afterwards said they felt that the recent fixture schedule had perhaps caught up.
There was one moment towards the end of the half where Lynden Gooch flashed a good cross into the near post, but Sunderland were caught on their heels and Johnson was left exasperated in his technical area.
He had feared before the game that Fleetwood's 3-5-2 would cause problems and so a plan B had been prepared.
Gooch moved up to join Wyke in attack and just O' Brien' s goal, he forced a fine save from Cairns as the Black Cats finally began to turn the screw. His arrival in a forward area had unsettled the Fleetwood defence and lifted the speed of his team's play around the box.
Aiden McGeady had not been at his sharpest through the contest, but even then he remained a threat, and the cross for O'Brien was perfect.
"That spark is why I signed him," Grayson noted afterwards.
This had been a battle for Sunderland, but they had found a solution and that was a major positive for Johnson. Even on a night where they had not been at their best, the opposition had not drawn a single save from the goalkeeper.
He conceded it had not been 'glamorous' but it was also very professional and very solid. "For us, it's just onto the next game really," he said. "We know what the expectations are for Sunderland in this division. At times we'll meet it and at times we'll fall short.
"If we do, it's got to be a blip and the exception to the rule and we bounce back quickly.
"But there's a lot of stuff I like that I see, even when we haven't played well we're still compact in and out of possession,we' re still creating chances, we still have movement in the box.
"I'm not sure we'd have scored that first goal 12 weeks ago, with O'Brien getting into the POMO position and producing a fantastic finish."
Johnson is eager to ensure no one is getting carried away but he is relishing not just the excitement growing on Wearside, but the general clarity that the club now has.
Kyril Louis-Dreyfus spoke to fans for the first time at the half-time interval and spoke with remarkable candour about the failures that have brought the club to a third season in League One.
In a frantic week there has been much action behind the scenes and the project at which Johnson is at the heart of is now visible to supporters.
A clean break from Ma dr ox at boardroom level, academy vacancies finally filled and signs of a recruitment drive to back the Head Coach and Sporting Director.
Johnson knows it has provided a lift ." I think so ," he said.
"It's my job to flatten the waves and make sure there's a consistency of performance, but Kyril coming in and setting out his plans verbally, and the actions on the back of that, leads us in a direction."
"That messaging has to come from the top and then we become disciples of that philosophy stays the same because that's what we believe in and that's why I was recruited."
Something looks to be building, and finally getting past Fleetwood underlined the sense of a fresh start.