Sunderland 3, Bolton Wanderers 1
Dec 31 2007 by Paul Gilder, The Journal
IN an attempt to drum up trade, Boylesports, Sunderland’s main sponsor, have offered Black Cats fans £100 in free bets as an incentive to open an account.
Like his bookmaking compatriots, the club’s manager is not adverse to a gamble. He took a chance at the weekend and it soon became clear that he had backed a winner.
The risks couldn’t have been much greater, Kieran Richardson’s health and the Black Cats’ Premier League prospects having both been put at stake. The chips might have been down. But Roy Keane came up trumps.
Richardson hadn’t been due to start against Bolton, but having lost Ross Wallace to a damaged hamstring during the final post-match training session, Keane came up with a bold Plan-B. On such things can seasons turn.
Half-fit and lacking practice following four months spent nursing a spinal fracture, Richardson took just 13 minutes to fire the home team ahead in a match that even Keane, a manager not renowned for his hyperbolic tendencies, had admitted had ‘must-win’ written all over it. The Londoner later delivered the corner from which the admirable Kenwyne Jones rose to double Sunderland’s lead. That Richardson, exhausted yet ecstatic, departed to a standing ovation demonstrated an approval too rare in these parts in recent times.
The Black Cats supporters appreciate class and the 23-year-old has got it – his drive and dynamism giving the home team a direction little seen this season, his ambition obvious and his skills sublime. More than anything, the England player’s participation set a positive tone as an uplifting afternoon unfolded. Keane had decided to go for broke. Fortune indeed favours the brave.
Their performance improved, their mindset much altered, Sunderland engineered a crucial triumph against obstinate opponents and escaped the top-flight relegation zone in the process. It was the club’s fourth win this season, the first in five attempts. Not since December 26, 2001, had a Black Cats team scored three goals in a Premier League fixture. On that occasion, Niall Quinn, these days the club’s chairman, netted twice in a 3-0 win at Blackburn Rovers. Next up for Keane’s team is Wednesday’s trip to Ewood Park.
It is perhaps stretching it a little far to suggest that a repeat beckons but at least the Wearsiders can travel to Lancashire with confidence restored and belief bolstered. The Black Cats can be competitive in this division. This important result proves as much, even if their footballing qualities remain in question. That genuine top-flight talent is scarce is obvious. It is something an ambitious manager is determined to address in the coming weeks.
He does have Premier League performers at his disposal and he must begin to get the maximum from them. Richardson had not started a first-team game since August 25 and his return could prove crucial. But it is not about him alone.
The attack-minded midfielder has lined up alongside Carlos Edwards just once and, had the pair been available all season, things might be a lot different. He had never before started in the same side as Jones before the weekend.
The Trinidad and Tobago international is another pivotal player and his performance against Bolton ranked among his finest in a red-and-white shirt. Jones has immense strength and his application is applaudable. But there is so much more to the industrious 23-year-old’s game.
The skill he employed to create Richardson’s excellent opener demonstrated that this is a player equipped to succeed in the Premier League – Jones using brilliant ball control and vision to dissect Bolton’s defence and his team-mate producing a fitting finish.
Richardson returned the favour 19 minutes later, the corner accurate, the leap high, the header powerful and precise. For the first time since September 15, Sunderland boasted a two-goal lead, although familiar shortcomings ensured that advantage did not last long.
That El-Hadji Diouf reduced the deficit was a shame for a home defence that had appeared much more composed than in previous fixtures, but Liam Miller conceded a needless free-kick that deceived Craig Gordon and despite Sunderland’s dominance, the fixture was back in the balance. “We had to win it twice,” said Keane later. He wasn’t wrong.
It might have gone either way, Richardson’s speculative effort prompting an excellent save from Jussi Jaaskelainen and Diouf unable to capitalise on poor defending having seemed a certain scorer. But as Bolton piled on the pressure, the Black Cats struck on the break to make the points safe and spark unbridled celebrations around the ground.
It came from Gordon’s long clearance to Jones, his flicked header falling into Daryl Murphy’s path and the substitute streaking through an undermanned defence to hold his nerve and fire past Jaaskelainen. Murphy’s first goal this season killed Bolton’s resistance and secured the points. Relief abounded, as did the realisation that maybe, just maybe, it might all be different this time around.
It hadn’t been attractive, but it had been absorbing. It hadn’t been the prettiest, but it could prove to be priceless. Their nerves frayed, their fingernails chewed, Sunderland’s fans at last had something to cheer. It has been an eventful year. This proved a fitting end.
It remains to be seen what 2008 holds, but the belligerent Black Cats are not down and out, not yet. On this evidence Sunderland’s survival might just be worth a flutter. Keane loves to beat the odds. Betting against him always represents a risk.
