Cats fly high for Donald
TAKING STOCK: Fletcher hugs Stockdale ON A day of Championship farewells, the relegation wake proved far more enjoyable than the promotion party.
This was billed as the afternoon all-conquering Wolves would cruise through the 100 points barrier and complete the set of having beaten every league side they have faced this season at least once.
Instead, it was an emphatic win for rock-bottom Sunderland, who notched up only their third home win of the season thanks to first-half goals from Ovie Ejaria and Ashley Fletcher and after the break Paddy McNair.
And if anyone didn’t know differently, they’d have thought the managerless Black Cats are the team who’ll be rubbing shoulders with the elite come August rather than planning trips to Fleetwood and Accrington.
Owner-in-waiting Stewart Donald had flown up by helicopter from his Oxford home to watch his new club.
But this wasn’t what he had read in the brochure about a troubled, clueless team.
Instead, Sunderland, who featured six academy products, were vibrant and full of ideas. They peppered the visitors’ goal with 19 shots and could have won by a bigger margin.
“I asked the players to finish on a positive note,” said caretaker manager Robbie Stockdale, in charge following Chris Coleman’s sacking.
“It’s a shame the game didn’t have anything on it in terms of staying up.”
Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo said: “It was a bad game for us. We wanted to finish with a win but we were not as intense as we should have been.”