On This Day (19th Jan 2018): Sunderland Take On Scunthorpe – Can You Guess The Score?!

Jack Ross really wasn’t that far away, but if I ask you to guess the score from a game in his first season as manager, you can probably guess. Even seven years down the line, that scoreline is etched on our brains when it comes to thinking about the 2018-19 season.

Considering the circumstances that he took the job, it was a good season on paper. Ross came from Scotland to take on what was probably one of the hardest jobs in football at that time, and he took to the training pitch on his first day without the relevant number of players to put out a matchday squad.

It was vital that we got off to a good start against Charlton Athletic on the opening day, and it seemed like it would only end in promotion, considering we’d lost only two games before the turn of the year. For the conversation to come, around a quarter of those league games before New Year’s Day ended 1-1.

2019 began with a 1-0 win at Blackpool, but then the next two games ended in a 1-1 draw. On this day eight years ago, we travelled to Scunthorpe United, which puts our current position into perspective.

Stuart McCall had recently taken charge at Scunthorpe and had won the previous four successive games, so it was never going to be easy, but Sunderland were clearly off the pace from the off. Jon McLaughlin was required to save the lads on several occasions to stop the home side from taking the lead.

Ross’ side was comfortable in possession, but it rarely went anywhere and chances were at a premium as it went into the break goalless. Around the hour mark, Josh Maja did his thing. It came from good work by Reece James, who supplied Maja to glance the ball home.

Instead of taking the game to the hosts and putting the game to bed, we aimed to frustrate them, which meant they stayed in the game. As it got closer to the final whistle, both sides became more desperate, but with a few minutes to go, it happened.

Adam Hammil hit an unstoppable shot from the edge of the box that curled into the top corner to give Scunthorpe a point that they deserved and once again left Sunderland regretting not putting the game out of sight.

League One

Glanford Park

Scunthorpe United 1-1 Sunderland

[Hammil 87’ – Maja 59’]

Sunderland: McLaughlin, James, Dunne, Flanagan, O’Nien, Power, Cattermole, Gooch, McGeady, Maja (Watmore), Maguire (Wyke) Subs: Ruiter, Matthews, Oviedo, McGeouch, Baldwin

Scunthorpe: Alnwick, Borthwick-Jackson, McMahon, Ojo (Hammil), Perch, Novak, Thomas (Lund), Burgess, Sutton (Van Veen), McArdle, Wooton Subs: Flatt, Webster, Lewis, McGahey

Attendance: 7,263