A full-blooded performance to savour.
An atmosphere to revel in, and a result that’ll go a long way to showing that in the inter-city battle for North East supremacy between ourselves and Newcastle, Sunderland
aren’t the plucky underdogs; the wide-eyed kid who finds himself playing with the big boys and is merely happy to participate rather than dwell on the outcome.
Let this message be read and understood by all comers: we’re a serious football team.
We’re a serious football club, and as Nick Woltemade wrote his name into the history books with a looping header that sent the Stadium of Light into raptures (a deadly finish — just at the wrong end of the pitch from a black and white perspective) the energy that had crackled throughout this gritty Wear-Tyne derby finally erupted.
The lead was ours. We wouldn’t relinquish it and victory — greeted by the kind of roar that’s becoming commonplace at our home nowadays — was a moment that none of us will ever forget.
With Eddie Howe’s side appearing to be waylaid by stage fright, a lack of energy or simply a lack of belief in what they were attempting to do (What were they attempting to do? Answers on a postcard, please), this was a game decided by the kind of organic qualities to which the statisticians seem averse but Sunderland fans love to see.
Heart, resilience, desire, work rate…you name it, and we displayed it in spades on Sunday.
Forget XG ratings and all of that mathematical guff — this was a derby as it used to be, won by the side who wanted it more, the side who displayed greater conviction in their play and who were willing to go the extra mile in pursuit of victory.
Remember the inscription on the iconic Lambton Worm tifo — “The man who wins is the man who thinks he can”? Rarely — if ever — has there been a more fitting precursor to a Sunderland derby performance.
Sadness tinged this game as the spirit of the dearly departed Gary Rowell hung heavy in the crisp afternoon air, and I hope it won’t sound presumptuous to state that he would’ve doubtless loved what he saw from his beloved red and whites against their Saudi-backed neighbours.
News of his passing broke on Saturday evening; moving tributes were paid before kick off and there’s little doubt in my mind that the Lads channeled it into their performance — one filled with all of the traits we’ve come to expect from this side.
Can Sunderland play better, more aesthetically pleasing and more entertaining football than we did on Sunday? Yes.
We’ve done so already this season, but derbies are often decided by key moments and when Woltemade — pocketed by the colossal Dan Ballard to add to his own goal strife — connected with Nordi Mukiele’s whipped cross, it proved the difference.
Fundamentally, exactly how you win in these kinds of affairs doesn’t matter.
Victory or defeat is all that’s remembered, but to that memorable night in the St James’ Park deluge to Jermain Defoe’s winner in 2015, another milestone can be added and I don’t think any fair-minded supporter could rightly claim this was a fluke victory.
As we knew they’d need to do if we wanted to see off the visitors, all of our key men rose to the challenge here.
Granit Xhaka led impressively. Enzo Le Fée grafted tirelessly, Brian Brobbey was a monster up front and Robin Roefs commanded his area with authority.
There were no backward steps taken and no sense of inferiority. The Lads knew that over ninety minutes, they could equal and maybe even best Newcastle, but believing it and executing when it matters are very different, yet this side boasts an elite mentality and an iron-clad self belief — something that’s grown during 2025.
In contrast, the visitors were utterly lacklustre and although the smokescreens of their European schedule and the supposed devalued nature of this clash (their words, not ours) may be used as mitigation, they simply didn’t turn up and that in itself was something of a shock.
Post-match, Bruno’s now-predictable offerings about Newcastle “being a better team than Sunderland” felt somewhat inconsequential. They certainly weren’t on Sunday, and player for player, they haven’t been during 2025/2026 thus far.
When Peter Bankes blew his whistle at full time, the post-match rendition of Wise Men Say — belted out proudly by the legions of Sunderland fans who didn’t want to leave a minute before they had to — seemed to carry even more weight.
We’re arguably more deeply in love with our football club than many of us have ever been, and days like this are the sweetest reward of all for the turmoil we’ve had to endure over the past decade. The ride continues, and I just don’t want it to stop.
As for Lord Gary of Rowell? We’ll miss him deeply and we’ll never forget him, but wherever he is now, he made the journey knowing that Sunderland AFC is a club reborn — on every single level.
14 December 2025
Premier League
Stadium of Light
Attendance: 47,158
Sunderland: 1 (Woltemade (og) 46’)
Newcastle United: 0
Sunderland: Roefs, Mukiele, Ballard; Alderete, Reinildo, Xhaka; Sadiki, Traoré (Hume 70’), Le Fée; Talbi (Mundle 83’), Brobbey (Isidor 70’)
Subs Not Used: Patterson, Geertruida, Neil, Rigg, Adingra, Mayenda
Newcastle United: Ramsdale, Livramento, Thiaw; Burn (Schär 42’), Hall, Guimarães; Tonali (Willock 59’), Miley, Elanga (J.Murphy 59’); Gordon (Barnes 59’), Woltemade (Wissa 75’)
Subs Not Used: Ruddy, A.Murphy, Ramsey, Joelinton
