Cats are at a low ebb, admits Gordon

Apr 21 2008 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

CRAIG Gordon admitted that morale in the Sunderland dressing room was at rock bottom after the Black Cats sank to a dispiriting derby defeat at St James’s Park.

They are now five points from the drop zone after a defeat by Newcastle that blows away the last of the feel-good factor from their run of three straight wins earlier this month.

And Gordon posted a worrying dispatch in the wake of the loss to Kevin Keegan’s buoyant United, which came courtesy of two Michael Owen goals near the start and end of the first half. Gordon took the merest crumb of comfort from the way Sunderland fought back with spirit in the second half but with his side leaving the home of their rivals empty-handed it wasn’t much of a fillip.

“The dressing room is very low. We’re very unhappy, but if there’s anything to take from the game, it’s probably that our second-half showing was a lot better than our first,” he said. “It’s not much of a consolation I know but, apart from that, it’s never nice to lose a derby game and that’s what we’ve done. As you can imagine, the players are very quiet.”

Sunderland’s resistance was shattered by Owen’s penalty late in the first half, with Mike Dean pointing to the spot after Danny Higginbotham had apparently handled in the box a minute before the interval. The Newcastle striker’s subsequent effort was poor but it managed to beat Gordon to hand United what proved an unassailable lead. The Scottish international confessed to disappointment at the way Owen’s penalty managed to squirm away from him but maintained that there was little he could do about the strike that handed Newcastle such a decisive advantage.

Indeed, he felt it was fortune more than judgement that favoured the England international.

“I couldn’t have done an awful lot more with the penalty. It just came off my elbow and managed to sneak in back at the other post. It seemed to go right along the line, but unfortunately it went in,” he said. “It was disappointing and, from my point of view, I think I was very unfortunate not to get to it.’’