Phil Smith's verdict: Making sense of Sunderland's first defeat and the telling full-time scenes

There was applause, chanting, and more unity forged in these early stages of the season.

You could tell in the aftermath of this game, one of those that you just can't take your eyes off, that the reaction had made an impression on both Sunderland' s players and staff.

They had fallen short, just, but there had been purpose and intent in their play.

There have been many afternoons and nights in this division, when the experience has been insipid and frustrating. When attempts to discern what Sunderland were or trying to do would leave you scrambling for answers that, if they were there at all, were hard to find.

There was frustration, here, for sure.

Frustration that an opportunity to turn a good start to the campaign into an excellent one had been missed.

Frustration, too, that a late equalising goal had been ruled out for offside.

The dust was yet to settle on that one, which Lee Johnson said he felt had been ultimately the wrong one.

His frustration with the officials at full time, and that of many of his players, was more with the familiar trappings of the late attempt to rescue a point. Time wasted and curiously not added on, and so forth and so forth.

That, most certainly, was painfully familiar to the traveling support.

But at least here there was solace to be taken in much of Sunderland's play.

Burton, for sure, had been impressive in spells.

Their quite outstanding form in the calendar year is no fluke and under Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink they have been able to recapture the combination of tenacity and skill that allowed them to punch above their weight for so many years.

They are direct and combative, but with enough flair to settle tight contests.

That Jonny Smith proved to be the difference maker would have come as no great surprise to Sunderland supporters.

Though the Black Cats had run out comfortable 3-0 winners on this same turf earlier this year, they had been buoyed by two excellent long-range efforts that belied the difficulty of the game elsewhere.

Smith, in particular, was superb that day, the former Bristol City winger giving Jake Vokins a stern examination.

Dennis Cirkin had coped well here, but a soft yellow card just before half time had given his opposite number the foothold into the game he needed.

It was a quite superb strike to open the scoring, and the effort that crashed off the crossbar twenty minutes or so later was arguably even better.

That goal, it should be said, did come in a phase of the game when the hosts were largely on top.

Sunderland had been guilty, in that spell of least, of looking for the expansive pass just a little too often. Possession was being turned over regularly, and Hasselbaink's well-drilled side wasted no opportunity to get the ball into the channels and push their opponents back.

In the end, the Black Cats paid a heavy price for that spell when they lost their way just a touch.

This, though, is League One.

Dominance through a game is rare, and against an opponent in form and on home turf, even more so.

Sunderland's primary failing was that they had failed to capitalise on a superb spell of pressure in the first half, during which the quality and tempo of their play was or the main reasons they received that reception at the full-time whistle.

There had been a touch of fortune about the first golden chance, Aiden McGeady capitalising on a rare error from the ever-impressive Lucas Akins.

After that, though, it was all about Sunderland's quick passing in tight spaces.

They carved out opening after opening, denied only by wasteful finishing and a quite outstanding performance from Ben Garratt in the Burton goal.

Hasselbaink conceded afterwards that they had ridden their luck during this spell, when McGeady, Embleton and Gooch all combined with the again excellent Ross Stewart.

Just as notable, through this spell at least, was the bravery at the other end of the pitch which set the platform.

Time and time again Callum Doyle and Dan Neil took the ball in tight spaces and showed impressive composure, resisting the urge to go aimlessly long.

When Johnson said afterwards that he could not fault the intent or purpose of his side, it was a sentiment shared by most watching on.

When he said that you could play that game 100 times and Sunderland would probably win 85, that was also fair.

His frustration had been just that lack of quality around the opposition area, and if there was one gripe with Sunderland's play it was that too often they had snatched at their chances in the crucial moment.

For all Garratt's excellence, perhaps not enough of those regular entries into the final third led to clear chances aside from that early siege.

And though its impact on this particular contest was minimal, it remains the case that a lack of full-back options means disruption is still too widespread when Johnson needs to shuffle his pack within games.

Sunderland hope that is addressed sooner, rather than later.

Johnson is confident that the quality in his forward line means that this kind of profligacy is an exception, rather than the rule.

He believes in the philosophy implemented over the summer, and the response of those at Burton suggested that they do, too.

It's a good place to start.

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