Ciaran McKenna says…
In terms of derby victories, I’ve been rather spoilt; in fact, I was only three years of age the last time we tasted defeat in a clash against them.
Despite that, the majority of our wins between 2011 and 2015 aren’t really stuck in my mind. Even though I’m sure I would’ve been clad in red and white and watching the games, the only one I have a clear memory of is the 1-0 victory that came as a result of Jermain Defoe’s delightful volley — as I was there live.
For unknown reasons, I only bought into
the club when we were in the dumps of League One. I think this may be the reason why the two victories this season are so much closer to my heart and are definitely the top two on my list.
I think I could be persuaded either way for a favourite.
On one hand, the win in December was better. The stadium was rocking; our Lads were brilliant, they didn’t lay a finger on us and then their £70 million striker nutted the ball into his own net. It was the cherry on top of our return to the league and put the final nail in the coffin of any doubters. Add the photo to that and it becomes a hard one to beat.
On the other hand, last weekend’s victory is better.
Coming from behind in their own backyard is one thing but doing it when they were so convinced they would win was special. It forced that entitled and pig-headed bunch to realise that they aren’t what they think they are and established the red and white wizards as the Kings of the North.
Combine the complete self-hating implosion that followed and the calls for ‘Beheaddie Eddie’ to take a trip to the chopping block and you have the perfect recipe for a chart-topping derby day.
Overall, I think it has to be the most recent one. The two goals and the outstanding second half performance just push it beyond, but isn’t it great that we have a tough decision to make!
John Wilson says…
Every derby game (especially a win) is memorable and for a short time at least, it becomes the best derby game ever! They’re all special and in my own judgement, I also remember events better if I was actually there.
My go-to answer has to be the 1-4 away victory in 1979, when Gary Rowell scored a hat trick. Glorious! An actual “I was there moment” that was slightly tainted by the fact that I was among the Mag fans and had to sit on my hands for the entire game, but still…pure magic.
My second and third picks involve the playoff semi-finals in 1990.
I’ll never forget the sheer tension and hostility hung in the air that afternoon at Roker Park. Imagine the stress of a derby game, then add into the mix that it was a playoff semi-final! Indescribable.
There were no goals in the first leg — including Paul Hardyman trying to put their goalkeeper’s head into the net after a late penalty miss — but the 0-2 away win in the second leg in the rain was something else. Their cynical pitch invasion as they tried to try to stop the game was futile, and a Wembley final prize was ours.
I must say that the two games from this season are right up there in the top five.
For the length of time we’ve waited for these duels to resume — the longest gap in the history of the clubs — and we’ve had to endure a lot of stick and rubbish thrown at us, especially during our League One period. I won’t say I never thought these days would come around again, because I always knew they would, but the satisfaction and the joy that beating them twice this season has brought has been unforgettable.
We’re back, we’re here to stay, and it would have to be some game to match the apprehension, expectancy and joy of this season’s games.
Mark Wood says…
I think if you’re a young or comparatively young-ish fan, it’s an easy question to answer.
If you’re older and have been around long enough to see some victories which were huge in terms of importance, it becomes much more difficult to rank them. I was around when Gary Rowell scored his hat trick— which was an incredible day. A year later, Stan Cummins got a crucial winner which was part of a run which took us to promotion.
The 0-2 playoff win at St James’ Park was hugely significant as we ended up gaining promotion again, and you can’t underestimate the importance of the 2-1 win during Gus Poyet’s first home game, the 3-0 during Sam Allardyce’s first home game or even Paolo Di Canio’s 0-3 win at St James’, because in each situation we were deep in relegation trouble and were significant — certainly with Poyet and Allardyce — in starting a run that took us away from trouble.
The 1-2 win at St James’ Park in 1999 was significant because following promotion, we got off to an iffy start but that game started a run that announced Peter Reid’s Sunderland to the Premier League and it was the result where the next two years started.
In terms of importance and with my thinking head on, the result at the weekend will not turn out to be as important as the above unless we do something remarkable like make a run into the European spots by the end of the season.
In my heart, though, it feels amazing.
After the years during which we were ridiculed and told by Newcastle fans in terms of the team, the club, the city, and its people that we’re inferior to them, to turn the game around the way we did after trailing at half time…Sunderland were knocking on the door all of the second half and were deserved winners.
It terms of performance, it was as good as any of the above.
Phil West says…
When the team sheet was published on Sunday, I tweeted that winning would be an achievement to match our rain-lashed success in 1999, when the pitch resembled Lake Huron, Kevin Phillips chipped a stranded Tommy Wright and Ruud Gullit’s slow march towards the St James’ Park exit turned into a gallop, and now that the dust has settled, I’d like to revisit — if not revise — my original opinion.
In terms of sheer satisfaction, of defying the odds and inflicting a morale-sapping defeat on our Geordie brethren, this was surely up there with any regional success you could recall from down the years.
Any away win over Newcastle is special, but a victory over this Saudi-underwritten, soulless, hollowed-out husk of a football club? Utterly iconic — as was the post-match meltdown from legions of Mags’ supporters.
We went there with a lengthy injury list having lost to Brighton and were finding open-play goals desperately hard to come by, yet through sheer force of will, togetherness and a refusal to be beaten, we overcame the concession of the opening goal and some shaky moments in the first half to rally, seal the victory and complete a stunning double over Eddie Howe’s shellshocked side.
Despite suffering a riotous midweek arse-whipping at the hands of Barcelona, it was abundantly clear that Newcastle’s fans genuinely thought they’d beat us and beat us handsomely.
All the social media chatter seemed to be based on their belief that we’d be little more than cannon fodder and that they’d be sending us homeward to think again, but just as we did during the original ‘six in a row’ and on that glorious night in 1999, we proved that those organic qualities that you can’t gauge with a computer can triumph, no matter how insurmountable the task may appear to be.
Derbies need defining moments. In turn, defining moments need heroes — and we had plenty of those on Sunday. I had my doubts about our chances of victory but they did us proud. Take a bow, lads.
Tom Albrighton says…
For me, topping the home victory against the Visitors after a ten-year hiatus from the Premier League calendar will be hard to top — but Sunday’s win came dangerously close.
What was so good about it?
Was it the second half resurgence and the fact we did it to them in their own backyard? Was it because a black player scored the winning goal after a black teammate was racially abused — or because they placed a banner specifically under the Sunderland fans in anticipation of a win?
To a degree, yes it was but for me, it’s elevated for the sheer hilarity of it.
Here stood a Newcastle team with a ten-year, £1 billion and one-goal head start against a team they hadn’t welcomed to St James’ Park for a decade, desperate to claim the victory so widely expected of them to save their season after a chastening defeat away to Barcelona left them struggling to come to terms with the reality of how far away they are from the European elite…and they bottled it.
The drama of it all was pure theatre and the reaction of the great unwashed since has been pure comedy gold. The fact they have to ruminate on this now for a number of weeks only adds to the sheer hilarity of it.
Was it our greatest derby win? No. Was it our greatest derby performance? Also no. But was the game won in the funniest way possible in the dying minutes to cap off an all-timer of a bad week for Newcastle?
Save from it going in off Luke O’Nien’s backside, I don’t think it could have.
Ewan Bowman says…
For me, Sunday’s derby win ranks above any derby win in my lifetime — and I’ve supported the Lads for over thirty years.
Our record against Newcastle in league football has been remarkable, and to be able to consistently beat that lot in games is remarkable.
When they got taken over, all we heard was “They’re the richest club in the world”, “Mbappé is signing” and “Sunderland will never beat us again”, but Sunday was special and for several reasons — firstly, the arrogance of that lot before a ball was kicked at the start of the season.
We all heard “guaranteed six points” and “Sunderland will be down with record points by Christmas”. We heard it all from them and after the game in December, the excuses poured out. They just couldn’t accept that we beat them, and then we got the usual Geordie delusion and arrogance — “Just wait ‘til we play at St James’ Park, we’ll hammer you”.
We started poorly on Sunday and gifted them a goal, but after that we controlled the whole game, shutting up the “famous atmosphere” very quickly and when Chemsdine Talbi scored, I knew we would go on and win it. Brian Brobbey was outstanding, and when he scored to see the reaction of our fans and St James’ emptying was a beautiful sight.
The fact is that they sold their soul — but we have ours, and we have character. Despite many players being out injured, to beat them in their own backyard after being a goal down tops it for me.
A superb moment for the players, staff and the supporters. It proved that Sunderland are back and we’re here to stay.
