Maybe I am wrong, but unless you are a southerner — or stone mad — an away day to Fratton Park is not one that stands out on the calendar. Sunderland’s experiences down there over the years have not exactly been pleasant. I recall a defeat for Ricky Sbragia near the end of the season, when it was the first time I genuinely panicked that we were going to get relegated, along with Luke O’Nien’s assault by a man of similar stature to Barney Gumble from The Simpsons, as two moments I would rather forget
as a Sunderland fan.
The 2nd October is also one of those moments where, had it not been for researching this article today, I would have hoped never to think about it again for the rest of my life. I apologise for rehashing it.
It was an extremely wet and stormy day on the south coast, with conversations about whether the match should even go ahead becoming increasingly prominent as puddles began to form all over the pitch.
Lee Johnson’s new-look side had started the season positively, losing just one of their first nine games before this fixture. Their opponents, Portsmouth, had not won in six, so there was plenty of reason for the 2,100 travelling Sunderland supporters to feel confident heading into a sodden afternoon on the south coast.
Within minutes, however, the conditions and the contest were turning ugly.
The rain continued to hammer down, the pitch became increasingly waterlogged and Sunderland looked completely out of their depth. Passes were going astray, challenges were being lost and Portsmouth seemed to have far more appetite for the battle. Every loose ball appeared to fall to a blue shirt and Sunderland were being bullied around the pitch.
This was a glimpse of a Lee Johnson team when they simply were not on it.
You could perhaps point towards the conditions as an excuse, but Portsmouth were playing in exactly the same weather. They were sharper, more aggressive and far more streetwise, while Sunderland struggled to cope with a game that had quickly descended into a physical scrap.
The opening goal felt inevitable when it eventually arrived. Marcus Harness put Portsmouth ahead before Lee Brown doubled their advantage, leaving Sunderland rocking in the relentless rain.
Things went from bad to worse before half-time when John Marquis added a third.
Three goals down at the break, Sunderland had been completely blown away in the first half and it didn’t get much better in the second with the game finishing 4-0.
Johnson’s young side looked incapable of dealing with the conditions or the physicality of their opponents, while Portsmouth had embraced the chaos. For the travelling supporters, drenched on the south coast and watching their team being comprehensively outplayed, it was becoming a miserable afternoon very quickly.
After the game, a visibly frustrated Lee Johnson tried to explain the reasons behind such a resounding defeat, whilst also apologising to the fans for such a bad day at the office.
“They just played the conditions better than us, simple as that,” Johnson said.
“They had more bite in the tackle, they had energy and cohesion in the press, and our quality was poor.
“Conditions were tricky but we talked about that and about how it would be a test for our young team, and today we were found wanting completely.
“But it is one game, it’s three points that hurts us because we felt it was one we could win.
“There’s a lot of lessons for us to be learnt about those conditions.
“We’re really appreciative of the crowd and their reaction at the end. It was incredible support in those conditions and to have travelled so far, we can only apologise.”
In fairness to Johnson, he still had plenty of credit in the bank at this stage. Sunderland had made a positive start to the season and there had been plenty of genuinely exciting football along the way.
However, the excuses bank was going to expand with time, until eventually they were no longer acceptable.
Despite some genuinely exciting and fun football to watch, Johnson’s side simply didn’t seem to understand the concept of defending, nor did they display much of an appetite for it. That ultimately became the defining flaw of his Sunderland team — and, eventually, the reason he lost his job.
Fratton Park was a horrible afternoon, but perhaps it was also an early warning of what was to come.
