Making sense of a dramatic and frustrating afternoon for Sunderland - that also came with key positives

For this one we had to sit through a penalty (missed), a red card, one major injury and another that was pretty concerning. Over eight minutes of stoppage time when the prospect of enduring another arctic outing for nothing felt like a very real possibility.

It wasn’t much fun for anyone involved but Sunderland got away with Hull with something and all things considered, that felt like a positive.

Tony Mowbray certainly saw it that way even if his players, who he said were visibly disappointed in the dressing room, did not or at least did not straight away.

In the end everyone involved in this draw was left a little frustrated, wondering what might have been but ultimately just about content.

Liam Rosenior said it was most definitely two points dropped for his side, and that was obviously true given all the advantages that came their way through the second half. Yet it’s hard to argue that in general they did enough to work Anthony Patterson and therefore win the game, which is why Sunderland’s performance is quite hard to assess. That in turn feeds into the fact that it’s quite hard to assess where this team is at more generally. Are they the side that is within striking distance of the play-offs or the one that is still not well clear of the teams near the bottom? Plenty are asking themselves the same question and maybe that’s just the reality of being a mid-table Championship team. If Sunderland end the season still weighing up that dilemma then they will have ultimately achieved their objective.

It was quite hard to work out who had the better of the first half and that in itself told its own story. Hull City have begun to dominate the ball since the arrival of Rosenior and he has almost immediately corrected what was one of the worst defences in the division.

Here they paid Sunderland a huge amount of respect, they sat off and waited for the ball to be played into midfield and only then did they press with real aggression. Mowbray’s side largely dominated the ball but they didn’t get anywhere with it. Alex Pritchard was a miss (thankfully he is expected to be back very soon) even if Elliot Embleton was at the heart of all of Sunderland’s good moments. On the flanks Sunderland’s key threats just weren’t quite at it - that happens.

Hull were on balance the more threatening, even if that was almost exclusively through the counterattack or from set plays.

The most frustrating element of the afternoon is that having started to look the stronger of the two sides just before half time, finally finding those spaces in which they could hurt Hull, Sunderland again gifted up the initiative after the break, through a combination of poor luck and poor play. If Daniel Ballard’s challenge for the penalty was clumsy, then that was understandable given that Danny Matth’s injury had forced him into a much longer return than anyone had planned or anticipated. He showed his quality and physicality on a number of other occasions, including for the goal.

Embleton had made some rash challenges in his Sunderland career but here he didn’t kick out and both players left the floor to compete for a loose ball - the red felt rash and harsh. It will be a costly moment, Embleton left the field on a stretcher and the sombre mood of Mowbray afterwards made clear that this likely to be a serious injury that sidelines him for a stretch of time.

If there has been some frustration and criticism this week from some supporters that Mowbray has been indecisive in selection and then changes, then it should be said that his response to this red was excellent.

An immediate triple substitution and a switch to a back three, with Dennis Cirkin adding some energy and freshness to a defensive unit inevitably coming under pressure. Patrick Roberts was the perfect player to relieve pressure by carrying the ball forward from deep and with Ross Stewart’s all-round excellence, it feels more like 11 v 10.5.

Stewart was superb, his finish from Roberts’ brilliant pass audacious and composed. One thing we most definitely learned from this game, though we knew it already, is that this squad and team is not ready to lose Stewart yet unless there is a serious, serious ace up the recruitment team’s sleeve.

A point, then. Some resolve shown to carve it out and the warm reception from the sold-out away end told you that it was very much appreciated.

What’s interesting about these games is that the table suggests Sunderland should perhaps dominate but it only tells part of the story. Hull City’s dreadful start to the season was at odds with a summer of heavy and expensive recruitment that ultimately far outstripped Sunderland’s. They are not the first team (West Brom being another) that are now just beginning to find a truer reflection of their ability and their budget.

The challenge for Mowbray now, both through an important festive week of fixtures and beyond, is to try and unlock what is the considerable attacking talent he now has in his ranks. He had planned here to pair Stewart and Simms together in the closing stages, reasoning that on home turf the pressure would rise on Hull and space would open up. Such is football - we’ll never know how good a plan that was.

With Stewart, Amad, Roberts, Clarke, Simms et al there is tangible excitement but there will also be an understandable expectation.

Days like yesterday, nights like Monday, are an inevitable part of a long journey with a young group. Sometimes you just have to take the point and move on - hopefully to some more enjoyable afternoons in the very near future.