'Deserved': Sunderland U21s boss delivers verdict on derby draw and THAT late Alex Bass drama

Newcastle United looked to have secured the points after Joe White's impressive first-half performance led to a goal, but the Black Cats dominated the latter stages even before Jay Turner-Cooke saw red.

Murty said he felt it would have been harsh had they left with a defeat.

"To be honest I thought the goal was a culmination of the 89 minutes before it," Murty said.

"I thought we applied pressure, and of course the game changes slightly when they go down to ten. To be fair I thought Alex should have scored the first corner, he's 6ft 10 and then completely missed the ball when he jumped up! I was pleased for the players, I thought it was what they deserved. Their goalkeeper made a couple of brilliant saves and the players deserved a reward for that.

"With a little bit more precision we could have had even more but I can't be too disappointed with how that has ended. I'll have to watch the video back because everyone is claiming it.

"I've just said to the players there to be fair, they're trying to be dead cool and play it down, but I said it's a brilliant place to come and play, and there's nothing better than expressing yourself on a stage like this. In the end I thought they did that.

"It was a great moment.

"They kept pushing, kept trying to do the right things and get on the ball in dangerous areas, kept trying to pass through.

"The music is going in there, the players are much happier than they would have been and I'm pleased for them. The big thing is that in the process of where we're going, from a couple of weeks ago even, they're improving and they're doing what we want them to do.

"They're on an upward curve, it's not easy to come from a goal down here and react well, which is exactly what they did."