[themaclad]

Sunderland 1 Mundle Preston North End 1 Riis

Attendance: TBC (330 PNE fans).

Referee: Mr L Smith.

After 80 minutes, one up, with a silent stadium apart from the away support in the gods in the top tier, we had won this, then came the four minutes where the flow of the game changed. Porteous clears a corner and appears to get a bang on the head, with Sunderland still attacking Mr Smith stops play, home fans less than impressed, from then on in things go down hill at a rapid speed, KKH who had been struggling sits down and is trying to be helped off the pitch by home players, possibly not the wisest move, as tempers begin to fray, eventually KKH goes off and now Potts is down repeat scenario, even more angst fom the home support, eventually four minutes have elapsed and we are green for go or not as the case may be we appear to have 12 players on the pitch, a unique experiment, finally all is sorted.
By now for the first time in the entire match the home support is fully befind their team and even more so when Mundle fires in a worldie, game on, we actualy managed to avoid any mishaps and played the remainder of the game in the Sunderland half.

We had actually started well Paterson made a couple of good saves in the first minute, fairly even game both sides had periods where they held ascendency had a feeling that is was going to be one of those nights for the home side, Isidor slipped when well positioned they were let down by the final ball, which led to the crowd getting on the players backs, especially when playing out from the keeper.
Both sides had pot shots at gal that missed by a considerable distance, Thordasson and Meghome could have scored for us, think it was Mayenda who could quite get to a cross in front of goal and on the stroke of halftime an Isidor header went just the wrong side of the post.

A photo taken at one of or corners in the vain hope that we would actually score from one

And now we come to Emil Riis, in fairness to him, since his ACL injury he has not been half the player he was, but he can go fom comedy to genius in ten minutes.
First the comedy, played through early in the second half, advances to the area and slices his shot not just wide it nearly ended up in the Wear. Another tame effort and then the genius bit played in by his Icelandic team mate, ball onto his left foot and fires in off the post.
Time for re enforcements for the home side, weathered any storm until we started dicking around, personal view dropped two points.


HECK

Paul Heckingbottom felt his side put in a fantastic performance against Sunderland and was left frustrated to not be leaving the North East with all three points.

Emil Riis gave his side a deserved lead with a stunner midway through the second half, but an equally impressive strike from Romaine Mundle earned the hosts a late point.

It was an end-to-end game at times which offered opportunities for both sides, with PNE’s best falling to goalscorer Riis, and Sam Greenwood.



Asked if his side could have won the game, Hecky said: “Yeah, we should have. A fantastic performance. I was delighted with them from start to finish.

“A goal like that that they scored, Freddie [Woodman] had no chance. It would have taken a goal like that to beat us tonight, I think, and it was when we had ten men on the pitch. It was a really good performance with and without the ball from minute one.

“I can count on one hand how many times I've been disappointed with us this season. Our consistency has been really, really good, but we've also been consistent in being a better team and not winning and that's one thing we have to rectify.

“We've not won in six league games now and yet we've been brilliant against Burnley, brilliant against Millwall, brilliant against Swansea, brilliant against Sunderland, and we've only drawn them. We'd have been better off just beating Millwall and Swansea at home and losing the other four points-wise.

“In terms of the players and how we’ve performed throughout the season, we've been very, very good. We've been really pleased with them, but we have to address that.

“Coming here with the resources and the qualities they have, we’ve more than matched them, but it’s another story where I’m saying we should have come away with three points.”

OUR REG

Régis Le Bris shared his frustration as Sunderland were forced to settle for a point but acknowledged the boost of having Romaine Mundle back after his stunning equaliser.

The Black Cats fell behind shortly after Mundle’s introduction when Emil Riis Jakobsen rifled home from 25 yards.

Despite a frustrating evening, Sunderland found their breakthrough when Mundle produced a moment of magic. The 21-year-old received the ball on the edge of the box, shifted it out of his feet, and curled a superb effort over Freddie Woodman and into the net.

The result extends the Lads’ unbeaten run to three games ahead of Saturday’s trip to Coventry City.

Speaking post-match, Le Bris said: “It was a tough game against a team that likes to play direct, with plenty of duels and balls in behind.

“We started well and created enough chances to score, but we weren’t efficient.

“We struggled to find the right balance in midfield with a new setup. It takes time, especially when playing with two strikers.

“At times, it worked well, but it wasn’t enough to maintain consistency throughout the game.

“I liked our reaction at the end," he continued. "In these moments, we needed creativity, talent, and something different.

“It’s about taking responsibility in the final third, and today, Romaine showed that we have players in the squad capable of doing that.”

HECK