Right, thanks for your company. Here’s Michael Walker’s match report from the Stadium of Light:
Simon Grayson speaks. “I thought we played well, it was always going to be difficult when you have that hangover from last season,” he says. “I though [Scott] Carson made some very good saves and we asked a very strong Derby side a lot of questions tonight. We are trying to make sure we give this set of supporters something to cheer about.”
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So, the wait goes on for Sunderland. They are still without a league win at the Stadium of Light since 17 December last year, against Watford. But, they gave it a good go tonight, and that was a far more spirited performance than some of those meagre displays under David Moyes last term.
Both teams will feel as though they could have won it, too. Chris Martin and David Nugent both missed sitters as far as they would be concerned, while Lewis Grabban rattled the post for Sunderland. Grabban’s first goal for the club ultimately earned the Black Cats a point after Bradley Johnson’s opener.
Mmmm ... some immediate post-match reaction: “It is not easy when you get relegated, the lads can lack confidence or things like that, but I thought we showed a lot of fight,” says Sunderland skipper Lee Cattermole. “I think it is a positive result for us.”
“I think it’s honours even and probably a fair result,” says Derby’s Tom Huddlestone.
Full-time result: Sunderland 1-1 Derby
No second-half goals then, but plenty of near misses.
90+2 min: Nugent fluffs his lines! That was a massive chance, but he totally misses the ball, with just the keeper bearing down on him. Bryson nods the ball in to him but the Derby striker gets it all wrong. A huge let-off.
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90 min: We are in to the final minute of two minutes of added time. Derby are having one last go at it ...
88 min: Oliver Langford, the referee, rushes over to James Vaughan to book the striker after a late, reckless challenge on Richard Keogh. He immediately went over to put out any fire there. A striker’s tackle, you would say. Meanwhile, Craig Bryson is on for the closing stages.
87 min: A spicy finish as Galloway and Vydra take a few lumps out of each other, with Sunderland eventually winning a free-kick just inside the opposition half. Browning tries to meet it but he’s left shortchanged by the Derby back line. Grayson’s all thumbs-up, geeing the troops.
84 min: Lee Cattermole has his head in his hands, after failing to make proper contact with Billy Jones’s cross from the right. It was a lovely, deft ball in but the Sunderland captain made a mess of it from about six yards out. The strikers, Grabban or Vaughan. would have loved to have a go at it.
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83 min: Forsyth allows Honeyman to slip inside him and the Sunderland youngster ploughs into the box, with the Derby left-back scared off making a rash challenge. Honeyman drills in a low ball but Derby are off the hook.
82 min: Andre Wisdom has just taken about 30 seconds to take a throw-in. He’s having, er, some fun with the home supporters about it too.
80 min: Vaughan has not stopped tonight. He chases a lost cause, nabbing the ball from Wisdom and then McGeady shoots at goal. It’s ambitious and off target, but Sunderland are still in the hunt for a second.
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79 min: But it’s straight into the wall by Vydra. Derby do win a corner out of it though. Huddlestone again delivers, with Johnson charging in to the box but Steele gathers. Sunderland supporters roar their team on – they want a winner.
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78 min: N’dong fouls Vydra, and there are a few handbags. Huddlestone’s playing peacemaker, with Vydra himself stood over the ball 20 yards from goal ...
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77 min: Martin off and Nugent on for Derby. Martin’s lasting contribution was that miserable miss with just Steele to beat.
76 min: Vaughan appeals for a penalty but it’s relatively half-hearted, although the Sunderland crowd do their bit to at least get the referee’s attention. Oliver Langford’s having none of it.
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74 min: Sunderland look pretty knackered now while Derby seem to have a bit left in the tank. That means nothing yet though.
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72 min: What a miss by Martin! He does brilliantly in the first place, laying it on for Vydra to take over the baton and charge towards goal. The Czech forward makes a lot of ground before side-footing the ball across to his team-mate, with only the goalkeeper to beat. Sadly, it ends up in Row L or so. A head in hands moment, and a huge chance wasted for Derby.
70 min: Grabban and Keogh share a joke after a little coming together close to the halfway line. Up the other end, Russell has a nothing shot blocked.
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68 min: Vydra is proving a handful; he plays a neat one-two with Wisdom before Cattermole nicks it away for a Derby corner. It looks as though David Nugent could be next to come on, with Martin surely the most likely to make way.
66 min: Things have calmed down a little but perhaps both sides are just readying themselves for a frenetic finale. Let’s hope so, anyway. Elsewhere, Nottingham Forest still lead 1-0 at the City Ground.
65 min: Weimann off and Vydra on for Derby.
62 min: Gary Rowett is getting Matej Vydra ready to come on. He’s given him a little pep talk. Meanwhile, Kevin Phillips, first-team coach at Derby, is unsurprisingly getting plenty of love from the home supporters.
60 min: Johnson strikes again, but this time its wet and wild, and harmlessly over Steele’s goal from distance.
59 min: Sunderland are knocking at the door. And John O’Shea’s warming up. I’m not sure he is the answer just yet.
56 min: Grabban rattles the post! Bradley Johnson plays Curtis Davies into all kinds of trouble, allowing Cattermole to scurry in down the left, he then drives forwards before laying off the Sunderland striker. He smacks it goalwards and it cannons back off the post – so close for the hosts. Grabban was perhaps guilty of striking it too cleanly, with the ball coming straight back at him, via the woodwork.
55 min: Another Derby corner, another Huddlestone delivery. His set-pieces have caused a few problems this evening.
54 min: Now Derby are in the ascendency, before Chris Martin goes to ground in search of some medical attention. A replay of that earlier corner shows Kone – perhaps unfairly – grappling with Curtis Davies. The Derby defender has an argument for a penalty there.
53 min: Richard Keogh’s header off the line! He meets Huddlestone’s corner and Cattermole heads it away from danger. Browning was easily beaten to the ball by Keogh, who towered above him and planted a header goalwards. Both teams have gone close!
50 min: Grayson’s barking out instructions on the touchline, with his players going through the gears on the pitch. Vaughan does superbly to keep the ball in play after Honeyman’s Hollywood cross-field ball. Honeyman, a Sunderland player since the age of 10, asked a lot of his team-mate, but Vaughan kept it in, nudging the corner flag aside before picking out Grabban. He’s certainly a willing runner.
49 min: Agonisingly wide by James Vaughan! He strikes his volley cleanly but it falls just millimetres wide of Carson’s post. Grabban did well out on the left, unselfishly holding the ball up before McGeady’s cross came bouncing into the box nicely for Vaughan. He can’t believe he’s not found the net there.
47 min: Derby go straight up the other end and win a corner, as Jason Steele flaps at an effort. Weimann then tries to connect with Huddlestone’s inswinging ball but fluffs his lines. Sunderland seek to calm things down, before whacking it back into the mixer as such.
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46 min: It’s a routine straight off the training ground as McGeady plays it into Grabban, who runs off and away from everybody else in the box. McGeady then gets it back and crosses but that’s straight down Carson’s throat.
Peeeeeeeep!
The second half gets underway with a bounce, as Sunderland win a free-kick 30 yards from goal.
Half-time email: “I thought the penalty was a bit harsh,” says Steve. “It’s been a good game so far.” Agreed, although there was no complaints from Butterfield, who may feel aggrieved not to have won a penalty himself on the brink of half-time.
The second half will be here shortly.
A man in form? Lewis Grabban has now scored four goals in his last six Championship appearances, taking his loan stint at Reading (where he played in centre-midfield at times) last season into account.
Half-time score: Sunderland 1-1 Derby
That’s a wrap – for now.
45 min: Derby appeal for a penalty themselves, with Butterfield put under pressure by Cattermole as the midfielder breaks into the box. It looked a little dubious but Butterfield was seemingly given a nudge by the Sunderland skipper.
44 min: Derby win a free-kick down the left. Butterfield whips it in with his right boot, but Russell cannot send it goalwards. Elsewhere, Nottingham Forest have scored against Millwall, so it’s 1-0 there at the City Ground.
43 min: Derby burst down the left flank as they restart proceedings, but Johnson’s cross goes out for a goal-kick. That looked promising for a moment. Will we have any more drama before the break?
GOAL! Sunderland 1-1 Derby (Grabban pen, 42)
He goes low and hard, to the goalkeeper’s left. Carson is not far away from getting it, but it’s there. Grayson punches the air!
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Penalty to Sunderland! Jacob Butterfield is the guilty party. It’s handball as he goes to ground, and he has no complaints.
39 min: Forsyth curls in a deep cross but Galloway does well to ensure it doesn’t reach Russell, lurking behind him at the back post.
38 min: The ball comes straight back at them, and Browning balloons it out of play: the dream scenario for Derby, who re-apply some more pressure on the Sunderland back line.
37 min: Russell is again in down the right flank but Sunderland get bodies back, doubling up on the Scotsman, with Kone ushering the Derby winger away from goal. Lovely stuff, and Sunderland whack it back upfield.
36 min: A crunching, but fair, Cattermole challenge on Wisdom helps Sunderland win the ball back. He limps away with the ball, nudges it in front of him before surging forward. Then comes Wisdom, back for round two, who upends the Sunderland captain. McGeady floats it in, and Grabban drives way over.
35 min: On the edge of the box, N’dong gets a glimpse of goal and his eyes light up. Derby goal-kick.
34 min: Half a chance for Vaughan, played in by Cattermole inside the box but it deflects away for a goal-kick. He looks up for the fight, at least.
33 min: Lewis Grabban is a very lonely sole runner up front. He and James Vaughan are yet to strike up any real partnership.
30 min: Grayson, arms folded, looks like he’s already had enough of this. Sunderland do though win another corner, with Vaughan poised for an overhead-kick (you can dream, I suppose) but Sunderland are wasteful in possession. Another foul is given, this time against N’dong.
28 min: And Sunderland are conceding too many fouls. Derby’s Butterfield floats in a free-kick but Steele claims that.
27 min: Sunderland are being geed up by captain Lee Cattermole. They’re struggling to hold onto the ball. “Bottom of the Championship already,” emails Bob Price.
26 min: The ball again drops kindly in the box for Sunderland but before Vaughan can make contact, Keogh hacks it away. This has been a decent response by Grayson’s side. It does feel very cagey in the ground, though.
25 min: What a save by Carson! His half-volley from inside the box is palmed away for a corner by the Derby goalkeeper, after the ball fell at his feet, via Kone. Johnny Russell should count himself lucky. Sunderland then win another corner, with Vaughan getting the better of Forsyth. McGeady will take ...
23 min: Russell stupidly fouls Galloway, and Sunderland suddenly have a chance to whip it in from a tight angle down the left, close to the corner flag.
22 min: Huddlestone is a real authoritative presence in the Derby midfield. He’s strutting around, and has had a big effect in both halves so far. His effort was brilliant, but it was beautifully, and unselfishly, chested into his path by Martin.
19 min: Crikey, Jason Steele is a very lucky man. Tyias Browning does well to save his goalkeeper from (further) embarrassment there, as he scoops up the ball after Steele had parried Huddlestone’s first-time, long-range effort straight to Jacob Butterfield. A huge let-off.
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18 min: McGeady has been lively too for Sunderland. He jinks down the left but he meets his match in Republic of Ireland team-mate Richard Keogh. He’s having none of that.
17 min: Honeyman, in fairness, has been one of Sunderland’s brightest sparks here. He wins a corner, before Billy Jones and Didier N’dong combine to pen in Derby down the right flank.
15 min: The corner is poor and eventually lands at the feet of Forsyth, who can only shoot off target. Weimann then tries to play in Johnny Russell with an ambitious cross-field ball but its intercepted. Still, Derby have their tails up here.
14 min: Derby are enjoying themselves now, while Sunderland look a bag of nerves. Kone, dawdling on the ball, without any real danger, is urged to clear the ball by home supporters. And Derby win a corner after decent work by Wisdom down the right flank.
13 min: That was Derby’s first real attack, and they made it count. “We are going up” is the inevitable chant from some 1,700 or so delirious away supporters inside the Stadium of Light.
12 min: Johnny Russell easily beats his man, Galloway, then he surges inside, crosses low and Bradley Johnson is there to stab it home. He sticks his tongue out in delight. Derby had been really under the cosh - but a little slack defending, and Sunderland are behind. How Honeyman may come to rue that miscued chip over Carson.
GOAL! Sunderland 0-1 Derby (Johnson, 11)
Derby go up the other end and score!
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9 min: Derby are all over the place. On the other flank George Honeyman is away in behind the Rams defence, he tries to dink it over Carson but it’s a pretty poor effort in truth. It ends up falling close to McGeady at an acute angle and Wisdom does superbly to snuff it out. Promising stuff for Sunderland.
7 min: Galloway makes in-roads down the left, with McGeady releasing the overlapping full-back, beating Andre Wisdom before drilling it across the box. Luckily for Derby, Huddlestone’s there to cut it out. From the resulting corner, the Derby midfielder is again forced to clear, with Vaughan’s presence causing problems. Rowett, legs crossed, frantically makes some notes.
6 min: Scott Carson will just be glad to get hold of the ball and calm things down for Derby. He, of course, then boots the ball downfield but Chris Martin is penalised for fouling Kone.
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4 min: McGeady nicks the ball away from Russell, the crowd then roar him down the left flank but Wisdom cuts it out. Back to square one. Grabban and Vaughan are both dropping deep to pick up the ball. An energetic start if nothing else for Simon Grayson’s side.
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3 min: Derby, in luminous yellow, are on the back foot early on. Aiden McGeady is having a bit of joy up against Andre Wisdom. Brendan Galloway on the overlap is also a cause for concern.
2 min: Huddlestone gets himself into a spot of bother on the edge of the box but Russell helps him out. It was a quick burst by Lewis Grabban, the Bournemouth loanee, that caused a moment’s panic.
1 min: James Vaughan wins an early free-kick down the left flank. It’s floated in towards Vaughan but that’s soon gobbled up by Carson.
Peeeeeeeeeeeeep!
And just like, the new season is underway. Sunderland get things started.
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There’s a rousing and touching minute’s applause for Bradley Lowery. “One Bradley Lowery” rings around the stadium.
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We are just a no-nonsense Ray Winstone betting ad away from kick-off ...
More than 1,700 away fans have made the trip to the Stadium of Light. It’s not jam-packed but the atmosphere is cranking up. There’s the daunting Apprentice theme tune as the teams leave the tunnel, a combination of anticipation and nerves.
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Simon Grayson speaks about that up close and personal ‘shit’ video. “Darron has apologised and he knows what he did was wrong,” he says. “It’s happened, we’ve put it to bed and if anything it can bring the group closer together.” We’ll find out shortly ...
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The teams are just wrapping up their warm-ups. Tom Huddlestone looks at ease back in Rams gear while Lamine Koné – who’s seemingly intent on leaving the club – and Darron Gibson are all smiles.
As they (relentlessly) say on Love Island, on paper, this Sunderland team looks pretty low on quality. Not that that means anything:
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Also in action tonight are Nottingham Forest, who host Millwall at the City Ground. Back at Sunderland, Wes Brown says the Black Cats have had big trouble attracting players to the club in the past. They do have a new set of shiny strikers on show tonight in James Vaughan and Lewis Grabban, though.
The rest of the Football League are in action tomorrow:
Team news news: six of Sunderland’s new signings start at the Stadium of Light, with goalkeeper Robbin Ruiter only on the bench. Simon Grayson had said he felt the Dutchman was a little short of match fitness, so Jason Steele’s in goal. For Derby, they finally have Chris Martin – who reported early for pre-season training – at their disposal for a competitive fixture after loaning him to Fulham last season. He leads the line.
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Team news!
Sunderland: Steele; Jones, Koné, Browning, Galloway; Honeyman, Cattermole, N’dong, McGeady; Vaughan, Grabban
Subs: Ruiter, O’Shea, Asoro, Gibson, Matthews, Khazri, Gooch
Derby County: Carson; Wisdom, Davies, Keogh, Forsyth; Russell, Huddlestone, Johnson, Butterfield, Weimann; Martin
Subs: Mitchell, Bryson, Baird, Pearce, Bennett, Vydra, Nugent
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Preamble
Can you believe it? The season starts here, on a Friday night in Sunderland. After an eventful pre-season, Simon Grayson’s side host Derby County, who – despite being raided for their best players over the summer – look like they have ample quality to fight at the right end of the table. As for Sunderland, who knows? The numbers are not good: they were ripped apart 5-0 by Celtic just five days ago and have not won on the opening day since 2009, when Darren Bent came up with the goods at Bolton.
There are seven new, fairly uninspiring arrivals and their best piece of business is seemingly Grayson himself. Only a handful of the players hammered by Chelsea on the final day of last season have survived, one of whom is Darron Gibson. Plus, who on earth’s going to be in goal following the summer departures of Jordan Pickford and Vito Mannone? Dutch goalkeeper Robbin Ruiter has received international clearance to feature, but if not, it’ll be Jason Steele. Elsewhere, Bryan Oviedo, Paddy McNair and Duncan Watmore are all missing, while Jack Rodwell could feature in some capacity.
Derby manager Gary Rowett can call upon his own raft of summer signings: Tom Huddlestone – this his second coming for the Rams – Andre Wisdom and Curtis Davies. The defender, Richard Keogh, remains the Derby skipper, though. “Sunderland will want to lay down a marker for their home fans and get them onside for the coming campaign,” he said. Let’s see shall we?
Kick-off: 7.45pm BST
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