All in all it was a pretty miserable night, but there are obvious mitigating factors — this was simply a game too far for a squad that has been stretched beyond its limits by injury and international call-ups.
Every once in a while, even at our highest point arguably for decades, Sunderland AFC love to administer a well-timed punch in the gut just to keep everyone on our toes, and Wednesday night’s trip to Brentford was a textbook example.
Just as the post-Christmas cobwebs were almost blown off, the fixture list threw up a second London away game in four days. I deliberated for some time whether to take any leave for this one, either to get to the pub early or to enjoy a post-game lie-in on Thursday, and in the end opted for neither, reasoning that a short trip to the other side of the capital is not a sensible use of paid holiday. At least my future self will be grateful for that, but the present version thinks the past one is a bastard.
Anyway, I was at least able to steal out of the office earlier than usual having started early and headed post-haste to the Rose and Crown in Kew Green where the branch would be congregating. Some of the club’s media team were present to interview some of us about our experiences following the Lads from the capital and predictions for the game. You can have a read of our chairman Matthew’s thoughts here.
Shameless plug over, time to focus on the football. Brentford would inevitably present a tough proposition, having surged in December from lower mid-table to sit above us in the league on goal difference. Their in-form forward Igor Thiago clearly took it personally after I removed him from my fantasy league team, smashing in a hat-trick against Everton, but our defence has handled similarly dangerous strikers this season quite well, so we hoped we might manage to keep him quiet.
The Gtech Community Stadium is of course a new ground for Sunderland, so that on its own was enough of a reason to tempt so many to make the long journey south. It was a short walk from Kew Green across the river to the stadium; this really would be a lovely trip if it weren’t on a freezing midweek night in early January. The stewards wouldn’t have been out of place working in government security, going through everyone’s wallets with a fine-toothed comb, but thankfully we made it to our seats in time for kick-off.
The compact away end actually made for a great atmosphere – far better than at Spurs on Sunday – as chants from the fans were able to carry across and be picked up much more easily. Brentford played their incredibly unoriginal anthem to the tune of “Hey Jude”, and the Lads kicked off in blue and white attacking the far end. The opening exchanges were relatively even, but then Brentford began to turn the screw, and our defence was split apart far too easily as Thiago rounded Roefs to make it 1-0.
We made it in at half-time with just a single-goal deficit, and over a pint of London Pride we reasoned that a second-half improvement similar to what we produced at Spurs should see us claim at least a point.
A golden opportunity to level was presented to us after Brobbey did brilliantly to win a penalty, but I was hesitant to celebrate too much given Brentford keeper Kelleher’s excellent record from the spot. In the end Le Fée’s ridiculous Panenka attempt could probably have been saved by anyone from the away end, even those who’d spent four hours on the train with a crate of Cruzcampo. It was a bizarre moment of idiocy from a brilliant player, and we can only hope he learns the requisite lessons from it.
I would argue that it was the manner of the missed penalty rather than the miss itself that spurred Brentford on to such a degree and completely dashed the wind from our sails. The second goal was frankly embarrassing to watch as we were let out of jail initially when the ball hit the crossbar, only for our defence to fail to pick up Thiago again as he headed low into the corner. Brentford’s third was the kind of sloppy goal teams concede when their heads have completely dropped. We huffed and puffed, and a few of last season’s heroes in the shape of Neil and O’Nien were given a run-out, but the game was long since done as a contest.
Back at the packed Express Tavern waiting for the Tube traffic to die down, we were given a brief morale boost as Leeds took the lead at St James’ Park, only for the Mags to overturn the deficit and climb above us in the table for the first time this season.
All in all it was a pretty miserable night, but there are obvious mitigating factors. This was simply a game too far for a squad that has been stretched beyond its limits by injury and international call-ups. The cup game at the weekend will likely be seen as a chance for mass rotation, and while it is a shame to essentially sacrifice our only slim chance at silverware for the season, it seems to be the only logical approach in the circumstances. This team has bounced back many times before, and with the imminent reinforcements from Africa incoming, you’d back them to do it again.
Category: General Sports
