Phil Smith's verdict: Inside the brilliant afternoon Sunderland fans came home to a performance to be proud of

On the seventeen minute mark Gwion Edwards is celebrating, Wigan Athletic are ahead and just for a moment, the excitement of being back in the Stadium of Light, together, drifts.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Sunderland's fragile left flank has been exposed.

Dan Neil has stepped in to try and make a challenge and it's just not quite come off. The impressive Tendayi Darikwa surges unto the space left behind and that's that.

Max Power, who has started the game well, is celebrating below the travelling support and this is pretty much the scenario that Black Cats' supporters had feared.

That for all the welcome change in direction from their club this summer, the upshot would be that in this moment, for this game, they wouldn't be ready.

What happens next, though, changed the mood in an instant.

Sunderland kick off and the ball drops into space near the halfway line.

And Neil, beaten just seconds before, steps in again.

This time he reads it superbly, and with a quick pass Sunderland are away. Ross Stewart is brought down, and the scores are level.

Neil, and Callum Doyle alongside him, never look back and together, they help drag Sunderland to a win.

As Lee Johnson said afterwards, in a feverish atmosphere they 'grew up very, very quickly.'

For Johnson there was also some vindication.

Not because he disagreed with the view that Sunderland's business in the summer window has been frustratingly slow, and that starting the season with no senior full backs is far from ideal.

He has felt that anxiety too, admitting to sleepless nights on more than one occasion through the pre-season period.

And you could sense Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman has felt it, even when underlining his commitment to quality, not quantity, earlier this week.

Johnson, though, was clear that he felt this team was ready to compete.

Though dropping Neil into left back (and Carl Winchester onto the other flank) has clearly been forced by a lack of incomings, it was a move he also genuinely felt could give his side an advantage in possession.

Both central midfielders by trade, they can step in to create an extra man in possession and those little overloads were crucial in what was an often exciting performance.

Johnson knew he was rolling the dice to an extent, and Wigan were a danger on the counter-attack throughout, but he felt his side were up to the task.

On Friday he had insisted that the quality of his team's performances in pre-season should not be ignored.

He said, too, that despite all the understandable anxiety, he had no doubts that his XI would put in a performance to make the returning crowd proud.

"I think people will be proud of our team tomorrow, 100%," he had said.

"We will put in maximum effort and we will play.

"We're going to play a brand of football we think people will enjoy.

"We want the fans to aid us in that and we know that they will.

"I'm starting to build an understanding of this fanbase now, I think. People talk about the pressure for success but I get that this is a fanbase that wants to be entertained, and wants to have a group of players they can rely on to give their all every week."

The perfect performance this was not, but it was a fine one for a team in transition and that they made the crowd proud was clear.

"I knew we were good, that we had worked well,” Johnson said afterwards.

Wigan started the brighter, the more incisive, and their ambition was one of the reasons this felt like a proper footballing occasion.

There will be many times this season when teams sit deep, take time out of the game and look to frustrate.

This was not one of those and the energy from the stands was entirely matched on the pitch.

From the moment Aiden McGeady levelled the scores, though, Sunderland looked the more threatening and the more cohesive.

Wigan boss Leam Richardson admitted as much in his post-match press conference, conceding that the result had ultimately been a fair one.

Not unreasonably, he pointed out that he had given nine players their debuts over the course of the game. That they looked a little disjointed at times was to be expected.

For all there a gaps in the squad still to be addressed, Sunderland clearly benefited from the fact that this group have had a good run together, both off the pitch and on it during pre-season.

Elliot Embleton and Ross Stewart, for example, have already struck up an impressive understanding and both were a constant threat.

Corry Evans has been steadily going through the gears in recent weeks and controlled the midfield for much of the contest.

Lynden Gooch excelled on the right, Johnson remarking afterwards that this was the best he had seen him play. Had his second-half effort found the top corner, instead of the crossbar, then we might already be declaring the goal of the season contest to be over.

There was an unmistakable croak in Johnson's voice as he reflected on the game.

He had tried to stay calm, he said, but this was some occasion and had quite clearly roared himself just about hoarse on the touchline.

You suspect in pubs all over Wearside there were many, many supporters in the same boat.

There are major challenges ahead, and much work still to be done, but just for a moment it's worth basking in the warm glow. Of bonds and traditions restored and reclaimed, and of three points well earned.

And in that conviction of Neil and others, perhaps a little flag has been planted.

Sunderland have pledged that they will do things differently now, and here they were true to their word.

A message from the Football Clubs Editor

Our aim is to provide you with the best, most up-to-date and most informative Sunderland AFC coverage 365 days a year.

This depth of coverage costs, so to help us maintain the high-quality reporting that you are used to, please consider taking out a subscription to our new sports-only package here.

Your support is much appreciated. Richard Mennear, Football Clubs Editor