It was a wet day at Deepdale on this day in 2023, but nothing was going to rain on Tony Mowbray’s parade after a 3-0 win for Sunderland that secured the newly-promoted team an unlikely play-off place.
Whilst a promotion push may have been somewhere on the agenda, it certainly wasn’t a priority for this Sunderland team, given it was their first season back in the Championship.
Typically, it wasn’t a straightforward season for the club with Alex Neil departing early into the campaign for Stoke City after
not fully seeing eye to eye with the Sunderland hierarchy. But, in many ways, Neil’s departure paved the way for a figure in Mowbray who was perfectly suited for the club’s team at the time. With a squad of youngsters, Mowbray’s man management and father figure style suited our young attacking players such as Amad, Jack Clarke and Patrick Roberts, who instantly connected with the manager’s warmth and authenticity.
This style got the best out of these players, and despite maybe not being quite as solid at the back as you’d like, the team were capable of scoring a hatful, making this season an entertaining one for the fans.
It is true to say that the team’s form was streaky – they could go and win four or five games in a row before losing just as many – but as the season was coming to a close, the team were in the midst of an upturn in form again.
Wins away to Cardiff and West Bromwich Albion, along with a home win against Birmingham City, sent the team chasing the final play-off place with Millwall and Coventry City going into the final game of the season.
With Sunderland away to Preston North End, they had to get maximum points and hope Millwall dropped points at home to Blackburn Rovers. This is exactly what happened, but it was a rollercoaster ride throughout the afternoon.
With the score 0-0 at half time at Deepdale, the Lions looked like they were cruising into the final play-off spot as they held a 3-1 lead at home to Blackburn.
In a bewildering climax to the regular season, Mowbray’s side kept their part of the bargain in style as spectacular second-half strikes from Amad Diallo, Alex Pritchard and Jack Clarke saw them romp to victory, while Blackburn scored three second half goals to win 4-3 at The New Den.
Sunderland’s second-half performance was Mowbray’s side at their best. They played with a vibrancy and spark that was difficult to handle. In a half that fans wouldn’t have wanted to stop, notwithstanding the rain, players such as Amad and Jack Clarke displayed their unquestionable quality as they took their men on at every single opportunity, along with a ‘shoot on sight’ policy anywhere around the Preston box.
As the goals rained in at both Deepdale and The Den, the away end at Preston rejoiced at a fantastic afternoon for Sunderland as tremors of Premier League football could be felt amongst the fans.
This win saw Sunderland face Luton Town in the play-offs, and after the game, Mowbray expressed his pride at achieving this goal, especially due to the countless defensive injuries that saw Luke O’Nien and Trai Hume line up as central defenders.
We started a bit sloppy with too many turnovers of the ball, but we grew into it. It was like a basketball game in the first half and we needed to control it better, and yet it’s difficult when you don’t have a natural centre-half to organise people around them.
We were a bit naive and let them have too many chances. But we became more confident on the back of the first goal.
I’m delighted for the supporters; it’s an incredible scenario to see the people of Sunderland enjoying their football so much and coming in their huge numbers. It will be awesome on Saturday [against Luton] at the Stadium of Light.
I always believe that we have really talented attacking footballers and if we get the ball to them they will score – and they did.
Blackburn helped us and we got the job done. If you finish sixth after 46 games, that’s where you deserve to finish.
Mowbray’s team continued the fine momentum that surrounded the side as they beat Luton Town 2-1 at the Stadium of Light to bring a first leg lead to Kenilworth Road for a challenging reverse fixture.
