Inside the exciting, frustrating and uplifting Sunderland afternoon that showed a club on its way back

Perhaps, 45 games into a season that has been more fun and more successful than anyone had anticipated, that is just about exactly where they should be. For if any game summed up this campaign and its occasional frustration, the regular exhilaration and the spirit in abundance, it was this one.

It was a game that for so long looked as if it would be the one where Sunderland’s absurdly long injury list finally caught up with them, familiar problems on home turf as Watford deployed what is now a familiar blueprint. Without the pressure and obligation to be aggressive that comes with playing at home, teams travel to the Stadium of Light with the freedom to deploy the exact game plan that makes sense against a team without a natural focal point, without a natural midfield anchor and now quite literally without any fit centre-halves. They defend in numbers, they let Sunderland have the ball in deep areas, they wait for the moment and break in numbers. They target set pieces as a major opportunity.

It was for all these reasons that Tony Mowbray had been so measured in his pre-match press conference, refusing to get carried away even as excitement on Wearside surged this week.

The frustration for Sunderland had been that for so long, they had actually managed to find a good balance in their play. Pierre Ekwah snapped into challenges in midfield, a talented player unlocking the competitor within as Mowbray has been urging him to. Sunderland were patient and they probed, and at times played their way into some promising areas.

Against a side who had been expected to challenge for promotion this season, with Premier League experience and a vast budget, this young group took control.

Set pieces, though, have always threatened to become an achilles heel. No Batth, no Ballard, no Alese, no Stewart, no Simms - no one really to head the ball away. It had given Mowbray’s coaching staff sleepless nights in the build-up to the trip to West Brom, a side packed with height and physicality and with an imposing record from dead-ball scenarios. Sunderland ripped up their usual marking system and essentially packed the box with players, trying to deny the opposition space to attack and in the hope that they could somehow make the first contact and get away unscathed from there. Here Watford’s delivery was inch-perfect and the aggression from the centre-halves excellent, a perfect demonstration of what Sunderland are lacking right now.

Either side of those goals it would be fair to say that the inexperience in Sunderland’s ranks began to show. The passes became a little rushed, the precision of all those fine team goals this season going array. The running and the endeavour was there and plain to see, but the body language betrayed the growing frustration.

“You have to live these experiences,” Mowbray said afterwards.

And that’s what it felt like, a promising team going through a sobering setback on their journey. And yet. Even when not at their best, this team tends to find a way. Plus, as Mowbray always tells them: they always score.

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They got the hint of luck they needed for the first, Alex Pritchard’s volley finding its way to the feet of Luke O’Nien six yards out. The second goal, though, was pure class. The composure from Dennis Cirkin not to sling the ball into the box, and then from Jack Clarke to draw two defenders out but not to take on the shot, instead feeding Patrick Roberts now in space. Then the most glorious of finishes, arced into the far corner and leaving the goalkeeper with no chance.

Sunderland in the end were inches away from taking all three points, time and physics just against Amad as the chance to get a shot away came and went amid a flood of blue shirts racing to try and shut down the danger. It had been another sweeping move, full of smart decisions and good passes, and as the ball rolled out to this most talented of loanees it felt as if we might be about to witness a moment for the ages.

Not to be, not this time. Perhaps it was for the best, Mowbray had already injured his hamstring celebrating Roberts’ equaliser - he might not have been able to cope with a winner.

If there was any frustration or any disappointment then it quickly gave way to pride, an impromptu rendition of ‘Wise Men Say’ sang with a gusto that the late fightback had merited.

Maybe Sunderland will go on to snatch a play-off place, maybe they won’t. Maybe this time around those injuries will prove just too big a hurdle, maybe another window or two is needed to get the balance and depth that can push this team to the next level.

At times this season it has been a real challenge at this ground, a team that without strikers needs space above all else so often denied it. Look around just before kick off, though, and see the noise and the colour and feel the anticipation. Hear the belief and then watch this team play their stuff.

However it goes at Preston there can be no doubt: The sleeping giant is beginning to stir. Sunderland are on their way back.