Phil Smith: Defiant Sunderland fans show pride after being let down by hierarchy as Newcastle poke fun

One tackle, two tackles, three tackles. A throw-in forced in a dangerous area and just for a moment, how good this felt. Sunderland had switched off the music in the half hour that led up to kick off and let their supporters do the rest. And how. 

The odds had been firmly against Sunderland right from the off and yet here was a chance for supporters to come together, to show their pride and their unity and state once again: This is who we are. For a spell there was tension and nerves and anxiety but there were goosebumps, too. Sunderland fans delivered but in truth, the same could not be said either of their team or of the club hierarchy who oversaw what were ultimately acrimonious preparations for this game. It’s why this ‘free-hit’ derby proved to be anything but, leaving scar tissue that will linger for a long time to come. 

What happened on the pitch needs to be put in its own context, of course. That the response to such an emphatic defeat against their biggest rivals was met with a muted response and even some gentle applause at full time spoke to the financial chasm fans understood their young team were being tasked with trying to overcome. If the magic of the FA Cup is dwindling, then it is because the finances at the top of the Premier League have become so distorted that no one outside of the top seven or eight clubs can even dream of significant progression to light up their season as they once did. About the best you can dream of, as Sheffield United (and even they were benefiting from parachute payments) found last season, is a trip to Wembley and a humbling against Manchester City in a semi final.

This game was the reality of facing state-backed opposition, and there were large spells of the game where that quality told. Some of Sunderland’s youngsters, particularly Dan Neil and until the very latter stages Dan Ballard, stepped up and held their own. Some struggled against their elite opposite number, but will be better for the experience and will have a better chance of making their mark the next time they get the chance. Some delivered performances that will leave regret, but have been so good this season that it would be wrong to be overly critical. 

The reality of this game was that Sunderland needed to be at their very best and Newcastle needed to be somewhere near their worst if it was to end in a home win. Sunderland fell well short, and the visitors were excellent. The aggression, intensity and quality of their press was simply too good. It was, as Michael Beale said, an eye-opener for his exciting young team about the level they are all hoping to reach.

What was harder to stomach was the passivity that Sunderland played with. They made errors in possession against a press of a level they have never faced before - and that you could understand. Yet that intensity of those early challenges ebbed away painfully quickly, not seen again until the game was all but up. For a brief period at 2-0 down, Sunderland pressed high up the pitch and as a result, got their potential matchwinners on the ball away from their own goal. It was risky, but there was reward and most frustrating was knowing that had they played this way from the off, they had shown there were some vulnerabilities to attack.

It made the decision from the sidelines not to make any significant changes all the more frustrating. Sunderland were not just unable to get their best players out on the flanks any meaningful possession, but were actively being overrun going the other way. In the end Beale made just one change, and that was in the 85th minute. He reasoned after that his team had improved in the second half and that was true, but also that he had not wanted to ‘destabilise’ them with more inexperience from his young bench. That in itself raises interesting questions about the depth of the squad ahead of the Championship run-in, even if we accept that this opposition was a level well above anything Sunderland will face between now and May.

To lose to this version of Newcastle United was understandable, but to lose having barely thrown a punch? Not as easy to accept. This Sunderland team will come again, though. These young players have inspired and excited and this sobering afternoon could be a catalyst for the rest of the campaign, showing the level they need to reach to fulfil their undoubted potential. This does not have to define their campaign, in which everything is all still very much to play for.

Harder to rebuild will be the relations between fans and hierarchy after a week in which they seemed to completely misjudge the importance of the occasion to the support. If this was ultimately a timid Sunderland performance then that was a reflection of what had happened in the week. The bizarre and borderline insulting decision to deck out the Black Cats Bar in Newcastle United slogans was what ultimately grabbed the headlines but that was merely the endpoint of a long process that put the interests of home supporters second on the most important day of their campaign. This will no doubt have been a lucrative tie in the end, but what has been gained on the balance sheet is offset by something far more valuable that has been lost. That the day ended with Newcastle United poking fun at the 'hospitality' they had enjoyed told its own tale.

The images will linger even as the pain of this derby defeat itself begins to fade. Even in defeat and with Newcastle celebrating on the pitch in front of them, Sunderland fans remained loud and proud and defiant, refusing to let the failings of those who oversee their club deny them their chance to come together and show their pride. They were badly let down.