87 crazy photos of Sunderland fans and players celebrating together after late Coventry City drama - gallery

Dan Ballard’s late winner secured a place at Wembley and the Championship play-off final against Sheffield United. Ephron Mason-Clark’s goal in the second half levelled the tie and was fair reward for their endeavours, with Sunderland struggling to impose themselves on the game in the normal time.

The introduction of Chris Rigg and Romaine Mundle then helped turn the tide as Sunderland finished extra time with a significantly improved performance. Ballard then leapt highest from an Enzo Le Fee corner to send the Stadium of Light into delirium.

“It was absolutely fantastic,” Le Bris said. “To score this late in the game, with such an important equaliser, and to win the opportunity to play at Wembley is absolutely fantastic. You play football for these emotions, I think. Before that, it was a tough game - Coventry played really good football, I think. They were very strong, especially with the ball. They controlled the game. We were between two attitudes, I think. We wanted to protect our lead because we were 1-0 up after the first leg.

“We were probably a bit nervous. We have a young team and it is not easy to manage these moments. But we were really well connected. We defended with a strong energy in the team, and we knew that for the last 30 minutes, we had subs to change the dynamic, modify the game and get another shape. We changed the dynamic during the extra-time period.

“The substitutions made a difference. We’ve spoken together before, 4-4-2 gives us strong threats to counterattack but it means you can lose control. It’s always that balance, what you gain and what you lose. To be fair today was more difficult but with Romaine, Riggy, Enzo in the midfield, we knew we could change the dynamic. During this period, we showed another face of Sunderland. The last part, the finishers, they did well.”

Here, though, we take a look at the best photos of Sunderland fans throughout the game: