Sunderland’s final home game of the regular season will not be the last time the Stadium of Light plays host to them in 2018-19 after all, it seems.
The 1-1 draw with Portsmouth managed to end feebly but tetchy, in a result neither side really wanted.
It was a far from ideal way to finish things in what has been a much-improved, if potentially disappointing campaign for Jack Ross’ side.
Tom Flanagan's opening goal was cancelled out by Jamal Lowe's leveller and despite the Black Cats pressing hard in the second period, they could not find a way through. Will Grigg hit the post, while Charlie Wyke forced Craig MacGillivray iinto a superb save.
It was an afternoon that was not without its shortage of talking points.
Mission highly improbable
A frustrating 1-1 draw leaves Sunderland needing to win both next week’s games, at Fleetwood Town and Southend United, hope Bristol Rovers beat Barnsley, pull off an eight-goal goal difference swing and hope Portsmouth failt to win one of their remaining two games.
To say it is a long shot is putting it mildly.
So more realistically, Sunderland just need to take as many points as possible from the road trips ahead to set them up for whoever they face in the play-off semi-finals. As it stands, they will be heading to Charlton Athletic in a fortnight.
Pompey get off lightly
Considering how desperately Sunderland needed the win, they hardly banged down the door in the second half – not that Portsmouth troubled Jon McLaughlin much either.
Substitute Will Grigg hit the post from a delightful pass from Aiden McGeady late on and Craig MacGillivray saved well from Lewis Morgan and Max Power, but that was really the sum total of it in a disappointing second half which ended in a scoreline neither side really wanted.
Flare spoils a good game
Portsmouth brought around 3,200 fans to a busy Stadium of Light, and the away fans contributed significantly to the deafening noise around the ground which was befitting of such an important match.
With both sides taking a positive and aggressive approach, it was an entertaining game, spoilt by an incident in the aftermath of Jamal Lowe’s equaliser.
While the players were arguing about whether the ball had gone out before it was crossed for Loew’s goal, following up when Lee Brown hit the post, a flare was thrown from the away section into the home supporters below.
Two home games earlier, Coventry City fans had thrown coins and bottles down into that part of the ground.
The game was delayed by four minutes while the referee spoke to his fourth official Thomas Bramall and both managers to establish what had happened. An arrest was quickly made.
Football can well do without such moronic behaviour.
Portsmouth fan arrested after flare thrown into Sunderland end during League One clash
Aiden McGeady’s honesty backfires with weak referee
It was a surprise earlier in the week when Sunderland’s newly crowned player of the season, Aiden McGeady, admitted he had fractured a bone in his foot at Accrington Stanley in earlier this month.
Inevitably, Portsmouth’s players took note and dished out some rough treatment to the winger.
Craig Pawson had stepped down from the Premier League to referee the game and the way he waved play on after robust challenges on McGeady and Charlie Wyke in the early
stages suggested he was going to
try to let the game flow but by half-time, he had dished out four yellow cards.
McGeady was the first of them, for clattering into Tom Naylor after just seven minutes in a misguided gesture to show he was up for the fight. Less than a quarter of an hour later, Pawson was speaking to him again for a foul on Nathan Thompson, the Pompey defender who had made it known publicly he had taken McGeady’s comments on board.
After 13 minutes, George Honeyman followed for a very late tackle on Thompson, who was soon cautioned too, for going through the Republic of Ireland international. Ben Close and Brett Pitman, in the second half, were also booked for fouling him.
Pawson continued to frustrate Sunderland when he failed to deal with what they thought were second-half dives from Thompson and Lowe. He also seemed to regard wrestling as perfectly acceptable when the ball went near Wyke.
The aggro spilt over in a bit of push and shove at full-time.
Despite all that, McGeady still managed to stamp his quality on the game, albeit only in flashes, playing in George Honeyman to deliver a 39th-minute cross Lee Cattermole volleyed high and wide, and his excellent pass to Grigg late on.
Injury for Luke O’Nien
Sunderland were unable to use Lynden Gooch from the bench because Luke O’Nien picked up a late injury.
It looked like an impact injury from a hefty tackle which left him limping, rather than the sort of muscle injury which can take longer to heal.
Adam Matthews is fit again and replaced him from the bench, but the Black Cats could do with their young player of the year (he is 24) in the play-offs.
