Phil Smith's verdict: Inside Sunderland's bruising win and assessing the key claims that followed

It had been a balmy evening back in August 2018, when Gillingham was one of the first stops on what was supposed to be a brief and breezy trip through League One.

That temporary stand was packed to the last season with red-and-white shirts, swaying to the sound of Sweet Caroline as kick-off approached.

The home side scored early, which was a little rude, but no matter.

The equaliser came quickly and after that, everything Sunderland touched flew into the back of the net. A George Honeyman shot, deflected into the far corner. A Max Power shot from the tighest of spaces, bottom corner.

Josh Maja receiving the ball in an even tighter spot. No problem. One quick touch on his left, another on his right. Bottom corner.

Job done. Jubilation. Next.

Only, it didn't quite work out like that.

Indeed, this ground came to represent something quite different. The malaise, the frustration, the inability to close out games that would twice lead to bitter promotion disappointment.

Four times Sunderland played Gillingham last season and not once did they to win.

At home, they had thrown it away.

A Jon McLaughlin error here, a bizarre Mikael Mandron brace there.

Away, though, the performances had been gruesome.

Gillingham are direct but they are organised and they are effective. Last year, Sunderland didn't have the answers.

That acrimonious December afternoon marked the nadir of Phil Parkinson's early months in charge, the bleakest of moments in what then felt like the bleakest of midwinters ("Hold my beer", Boris Johnson whispers).

Will Grigg and Marc McNulty may have looked like a fairly attacking forward line, but they were bystanders in a contest where Sunderland tried to match their opponents physicality, but ended up lacking any kind of incision.

Chris Maguire played just a minute from the bench. Aiden McGeady, Duncan Watmore and Denver Hume were still watching on when Connor Ogilvie snatched the winner in the dying embers.

Something felt like it was breaking.

And no, the players probably shouldn't have stopped for a McDonalds on the way home but if you haven't felt the need to comfort eat your way through a defeat to Gillingham with an underwhelming motorway Cheeseburger, have you even been to League One?

All of this is why Parkinson hailed a sign of a big progression for his Sunderland side on Saturday afternoon.

For the opening half an hour, it had all felt too familiar.

There was no Neil Diamond this time around, only the roar of Steve Evans and one of the most patronising put-downs a referee will be forced to endure this season.

"Well done, you are a superstar," he cried, as the referee showed Ryan Jackson a yellow for a challenge in which he probably won the ball, but proceeded to take half of Kent with it.

Sunderland were getting sucked in.

Every decision was met with uproar, the tempo of the game non-existent. Sunderland were allowing themselves to be pushed back into their own half, no fluency to the game.

Set piece after set piece flew into their box.

It was bruising, exhausting to watch.

No wonder, then, Lynden Gooch had nothing left in the tank to celebrate. He had settled the contest with a fine breakaway goal in stoppage time, and promptly fell straight to the floor.

Parkinson, who had spent most of his energy trying not to fly into the opposition dug-out, settled for a quiet first pump.

This win, he said, was key.

His side had shown the physicality and resilience to cope with Gillingham's threat, and that was true. For all those set pieces, there were few genuine scares as Bailey Wright and his defensive unit rediscovered their resilience.

Crucially, though, he felt his side had shown their progress from a year ago with the composure they showed in possession.

This was true in patches of the game, if not for the whole of the 90 minutes.

Sunderland started poorly, but looked a threat in the spell before half-time when they were able to get the ball down and play with some precision and poise.

Josh Scowen missed two glorious opportunities in a display where his movement and energy was terrific, but his finishing was not.

Sunderland were excellent after Gillingham were reduced to ten, too.

The shape of the side was good and there was a patience as they gradually probed for the openings they required.

The two goals were well deserved and with it, the three points.

While their expected-goals tally in this fiture last year had been 0.26, this time it was 2.9.

Some nerves settled, after a frustrating week. Parkinson, too, pointed to the strength of his bench and the cameos from it as another reason for optimism.

It had certainly helped his side over the line that as Gillingham began to visibly tire, he had been able to introduce Maguire and Danny Graham to the action.

Both played their part in finally overwhelming the home defence, forging a threatening trio with Charlie Wyke.

Without doubt, though, there was some good fortune in this victory.

Gillingham may be direct but they have organisation and they have some good individual talent. They had started the second half much the better of the two sides and when the penalty came, it was a fair reflection of the game’s trajectory.

If not for those inexplicable misses from Jordan Graham and Dominic Samuel, and the shocking challenge from Alex MacDonald that followed. this game could well have looked a lot like that bitter afternoon of 2019.

At that stage, Sunderland had created some chances without greatly impressing, albeit in difficult conditions.

For that reason, the result was met with some caution.

The visit of Ipswich Town on Tuesday game looms large.

The table makes for encouraging reading with these valuable three points added, and that game marks opportunity.

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