Last Tuesday we looked at a tight home win over Bradford City, ahead of which manager Denis Smith had named an unchanged side following two disappointing away games On This Day (21st Oct 1989): Bradford City Sunk
By MacPhail’s Arrow | Roker Report.
The match had taken place during a heavy run of fixtures, with a midweek Littlewoods Cup game tie against Bournemouth following hot on its heels. For that one Smith again kept things the same in terms of team selection, but despite a good performance the Cherries forced a replay – poor finishing scuppering Sunderland’s chances for the time being.
After the clubs had reconvened in Dorset in early November the Rokerites were able to enjoy their long journey home having eventually secured progress to the next round, but on this day it was league points they were after as they hit the road, their destination being somewhere very familiar to Sunderland’s management team.
A legend in parts of Staffordshire having served Stoke City for almost twenty years, local boy Smith was making an emotional return to the Victoria Ground alongside his old teammate and now assistant Viv Busby. Their last visit in March had left the pair fuming due to a below par performance from the players, but with the current XI now establishing itself Smith once again kept faith with his starting choices. His counterpart Mick Mills however had no such luxury, with the sale of star man and future Roker loanee Peter Beargie to Everton the day prior forcing him into a tactical rethink.
Understandably then, it was the visitors that looked more comfortable in the wind-swept and greasy conditions. Gary Owers was heavily involved at both ends of the pitch in the opening minutes, but the more Sunderland looked to press the more they came unstuck by Stoke’s tight offside trap, and when they did get into the box after 26 minutes claims of a foul on Colin Pascoe were waved away the man in the middle Peter Tyldesley.
A remarkable save by the prone Scott Barrett, who had just flicked a Paul Bracewell attempt onto to bar, stopped Marco Gabbiadini from slotting in the rebound on the stroke of half time and giving the Lads what would have been a deserved lead. After the break they stepped things up further in search of the opener with Bracewell, himself an ex Stoke man, beginning to pull the strings, but matters were starting to get physical, and Sunderland had to earn the right to play.
A yellow card for Chris Kamara due to a late tackle on John MacPhail just before the hour mark did little to stop those two from continuing to do battle, whilst John Kay had found himself going in the book moments before after clashing with Carl Saunders as Stoke looked to break. The full back was adamant though that he had been the one on the receiving end of a foul, and having already ruled out a Gordon Armstrong attempt just after the break referee Tyldesley was certainly beginning to wind up the Wearsiders.
Armstrong’s ‘goal’ had come directly from a corner kick that was pushed into the roof of the net by Barrett, only for a supposed foul somewhere in the melee in front of him to be pulled up. Frustration had grown further still when a close-range effort from Owers was blocked, so in the end Sunderland decided to try a different route to goal and from Bracewell’s excellent long ranger they finally took the lead with around 15 minutes left to play.
The ball had rolled outside of the box after a dangerous cross from Pascoe was only partially cleared so Bracewell sent it back with real venom, his shot crashing off the bar and over the line to provide a spectacular moment for the travelling support behind the net that had been in good voice throughout. Their celebrations then intensified when less than two minutes later when the scorer set away Marco for a second, Gabbers beating his marker and firing low past Barrett to rubberstamp the victory.
Even the torrential downpour that began shortly before full time failed to dampen the spirits of an enthused Smith, whose name was being sung in the home sections as the clock ticked down and the mood turned against the current Stoke hierarchy. Although empathetic towards Mills afterwards, he was right to be pleased with what his side had given him; it rarely pays to change a winning formula and having seen a previously faltering attack click into gear whilst those behind worked hard to keep a clean, a now 5th placed Sunderland were displaying their promotion capabilities.
Saturday 28 October 1989
Barclays League Division Two
Stoke City 0
Sunderland 2 (Bracewell 75’, Gabbiadini 77’)
Stoke City: Barrett, Butler, Statham, Kamara, Cranson, Beeston, Palin, Scott (Morgan 70), Bamber, Saunders, Hackett. Unused: Boughey
Sunderland: Carter; Kay, MacPhail, Bennett, Hardyman (Cullen 85’); Owers, Bracewell, Armstrong, Pascoe; Gates, Gabbiadini Unused: Heathcote
Victoria Ground, attendance 12,480
