Gary Rowell: 'I have rarely seen the fans so united'
It can be a cliche to harp on about fans being the 12th man in football, but that really was the case as Sunderland gained a vital victory against Hull City at the weekend.
This was one of those games where no-one inside the stadium was in any doubt of its importance for themselves, the opposition and everyone at the bottom of the table.
It meant that everyone had a part to play – including the fans.
Fair play to Hull City; they brought 3,000 fans up to the Stadium of Light and they gave their team excellent backing throughout.
But I thought Sunderland's fans were tremendous.
I have rarely seen them so united behind their team this season, so determined to keep on supporting the team and drive them on no matter what.
And I think their backing not only created a great atmosphere, it also helped Sunderland's players keep going and drive on to victory – especially that last 10 minutes when they tried to roar them over the line.
It didn't escape my notice either that Sunderland's attendance was the biggest in domestic league football at the weekend – better than both Aston Villa and Manchester City – both of which have had far more successful seasons than Sunderland.
Those fans played their part in helping drag Sunderland over the line in a game which left me feeling like I'd been through and emotional wringer by the end of it!
We needed the second goal and twice we almost got it early in the second-half.
But when it didn't come, it was always going to be nervy and credit to Hull because they never gave up and, actually, when you analyse most of our goalscoring chances in the second-half, they mainly came on the counter-attack because Hull were pressing so much.
Thankfully Sunderland held on to a victory which really improves the picture at the bottom of the table for the club and re-emphasised, in my opinion, the value of unity at any club.
My abiding is going to be the final whistle and the joy and celebration of Sunderland fans which accompanied it.
I don't think I've seen our fans so happy and so relieved since we beat the Magpies at the Stadium of Light earlier this year.
And I think that said it all about the contest we had just witnessed.
It was never going to be a classic given the pressure of the situation for both teams.
There was only one objective: win the game and not care too much about how it was achieved.
And in that respect, it was a case of Mission: Accomplished when full-time finally arrived.
It was a great win for us.
And while I'm not kidding myself that somehow we've become a great team overnight but you can't be critical of any player or of Ricky Sbragia and his coaching staff after that performance because, at the end of the day, they got the job done.
It wasn't a great game, but wasn't it a great feeling at the final whistle?
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Weather for Sunderland
Friday 10 February 2012
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