Jack Ross verdict on Port Vale penalty appeal in Sunderland's FA Cup win

Jack Ross admits Port Vale had a '˜decent claim' for a penalty in Sunderland's 2-1 FA Cup first round victory.
Jack Ross.Jack Ross.
Jack Ross.

Sunderland raced into a 2-0 lead after just 19 minutes at Vale Park thanks to goals from George Honeyman after just 36 seconds, before Lynden Gooch added a second.

Port Vale halved the deficit 35 minutes in through top scorer Tom Pope before the game’s pivotal moment in the second half, when Luke Hannant got free in the box.

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Jack Baldwin went for the last ditch challenge, Hannant going to ground and Vale adamant that a penalty should have been given.

Referee Anthony Backhouse waved play on and Sunderland were able to clear their lines.

Ross said: “I’ve not seen it (penalty incident) again, but from pitchside I thought it was a decent claim.

“I don’t always get it right from pitch-side though, and that’s been the case with ones I thought we should have had as well.

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“On first shout though, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had pointed to the spot.”

Ross made just one change to the team that beat Plymouth Argyle 2-0, Josh Maja named on the bench with Jerome Sinclair in from the start.

On Maja not starting, Ross said: “The team was selected to start the game. It’s a big pitch here and in fairness to the players, the things we had done in prep for this game, they did

brilliantly in the first half-hour.

“They were perfect almost in the manner they played the game, and Jerome played his part in that.

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“When Josh came on, I thought he helped us gain control of the game again. That’s the advantage of having players in the squad who can do jobs.”

Sunderland, on the back of a seven-game winning run, are next in action on Tuesday night when they travel to Morecambe for the final Checkatrade Trophy group game.