Phil Smith's verdict: Inside a special and memorable night for Sunderland even as play-off tie hangs in the balance

It’s something Alex Neil has railed against in his tenure on Wearside so far, always withering when it’s put to him that this is not a League One club. ‘The simple fact is we are’, he will say.

It has been one of the biggest successes so far, getting total buy-in to his single-minded, next-game only mantra.

And yet there are also times when your history is a power, a reminder of what you are and what you can be. This one of those nights, an atmosphere recalling the days when the very best teams would wilt in the face of Wearside’s fervour.

Most importantly, it was an atmosphere that drove forward the present.

There were flags, there were mosaics, there was a joyous rendition of the returning ‘Ready to Go’. There was pride, there was passion. This was Wearside; the night Sunderland went back to the future.

Neil had called on the club, internal and external, to forget all that play-off heartache for now. There is nothing to be achieved by dwelling on that negativity, he had said. This is a good side who will turn up and give it their all.

That they did, and the 44,472 responded in kind. That was a marvel in itself: the biggest crowd outside of the Premier League this season and the biggest in the history of the Football League play-offs.

In the context of this season it might all yet count for nothing.

After all, the advantage is nerve-shreddingly slender and given their outstanding record on home turf, Sheffield Wednesday will feel not just that they are well in this tie but actually not all that far from where they need to be.

Sunderland were good here, they will need to be even better to get another shot at Wembley success.

If there was one disappointment for Neil, it was that his side had not taken an even greater lead from a night when all over the pitch they stood up to the pressure.

For a period in the second half Darren Moore’s side were on the ropes and it felt as if the Black Cats were about to lift off.

In a frenzied wave of attacks Alex Pritchard struck the crossbar with an effort that had Bailey Peacock-Farrell well beaten. Dennis Cirkin headed just over the bar, Patrick Roberts came close to scoring the goal of the season before his effort was deflected just wide.

The goal just never quite came, Wednesday able to ride the wave and find their footing.

Though Ross Stewart almost pounced on more indecision to add a second just before stoppage time, it was Moore’s side who had finished the strongest.

Alarmed by what he was watching, the Owls’ boss switched shape and managed to haul his players into areas where they could cause problems.

Barry Bannan, a bystander in the first hour, was suddenly appearing here and there, moving it at pace and with precision. Substitute Josh Windass had brought more running power and physicality to the front line and all of a sudden you felt there were tired legs everywhere you looked in the Sunderland ranks.

Perhaps it was simply a reminder of how closely-matched these two teams have been over the course of this season, and will continue to be right until the final whistle of this tie.

As Bailey Wright and Danny Batth (both mightily impressive again) headed cross after cross clear in the last ten minutes, there was a vision of Monday night to make you wince just a little.

Moore rejected the idea that his side had been too conservative in the first half, when Sunderland had dominated territory and possession without creating too many chances of note.

The Owls did not press the Sunderland backline but Moore instead was quick to credit his opposition for not giving his opposition a way into the game.

Neil had sprung a surprise by switching away from a back three, pushing Jack Clarke and Patrick Roberts right up the pitch. He wanted Wednesday to fear being too aggressive, conscious of the quality of attacker they would be leaving in behind them.

It worked well, Lynden Gooch protecting the balance of the side in both his ability to drive out with the ball and to quickly recover in the rare moments Wednesday broke into space.

Both teams tweaked and tweaked again, the end result being a slender and fair advantage for Neil’s side.

Sunderland know that the energy and the electricity generated here will be there again on Monday, but this time the onus will be on them to contain, to frustrate and to find a way to play in the eye of a storm.

They have shown under Neil that they can stand up to that pressure, their long unbeaten run showing that they will have an organisation and a resilience about them.

Whether it will be enough, only time will tell. This tie remains too close to call.

For a moment, though, you can forgive a city taking a moment to step back and put all that to one side. To relish having this feeling again, to hear and share in that roar.

“How fortunate do I feel to be the one guy standing at the side of the pitch when that is going on around me,” Neil asked afterwards.

"If you've got 45,000 other people there, cheering the lads on and desperate for them to do well, I feel really, really privileged.

There is the guts of something good brewing here, life in this proud old club yet.