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A spirited second-half performance from Lincoln City kept their automatic promotion hopes alive at The Stadium of Light in an entertaining 1-1 draw on Wearside.
Whilst Sunderland had looked the most likelier of the sides to take all three points at the break, their failure to grab an all-important second goal and keep up with the youthful exuberance of their counterparts left them hanging on to a point at the final whistle.
For the opening hour, captain Max Power had shown his value to the Black Cats both from an attacking and defensive perspective. Occupying the right-sided midfield birth, his quality on the ball had brought about the opening goal.
Having been a whisker away minutes earlier from finding top marksman Charlie Wyke with a dangerous cross, Power took full advantage when presented with another opportunity that came his way from a wide position.
Having dealt with the initial threat of Lynden Gooch, City could only clear their lines as far as Power and once more he delivered another quality ball into the box. A superbly flighted cross picked out full-back Callum McFadzean, who thundered his header past the helpless Alex Palmer on forty minutes to break the deadlock.
Despite not being blessed with pace or trickery, Power displayed the knowhow and technical ability to play the ball in tight spaces to get Lynden Gooch away in front of him. Whereas Power had shown his quality on the ball, he made key challenges in thwarting the attacking threat of Morgan Rogers on the Lincoln left.
In one first-half moment, the Manchester City loanee skipped past a couple of Sunderland challenges and with his head up driving towards goal, Power used his experience to stand and pick the pocket of the young winger, calmly winning possession back and passing to another in a red and white shirt.
He made a more important carbon copy challenge on Rogers with the stakes of the game raised even higher in the dying moments, once more reading his opponent well as he looked to break through the Sunderland backline with the game stretched.
But it was the never say die attitude from Michael Appleton’s men that was the games biggest takeaway. Having had the spine of their team ravaged by injury to the tune of impressive trio of Joe Walsh, Jorge Grant and Tom Hopper, the Imps second-half performance, in particular, spoke volumes about the spirit within their squad.
To a man, Lincoln were excellent with centre back pairing Lewis Montsma and Adam Jackson quelling the aerial presence of Charlie Wyke, which left the Sunderland striker looking a frustrated figure.
Connor McGrandles and Liam Bridcutt were excellent at the base of Lincoln’s midfield and Tayo Edun, usually deployed at left-back, also had a good game in a more advanced midfield role.
Bridcutt certainly had his sleeves up against his former club, and whether it was throwing his body on the line to block a ferocious Aiden McGeady shot or leading the press to prevent Sunderland from playing out from the back, the Imps skipper led his teammates by example.
Not that their performance was all grit and determination. Sticking to their attacking principles, it was certainly a case of attack being the best form of defence and Michael Appleton deserves huge credit for the way that his team took the game to the home side.
Depleted by injury, many managers would have looked to settle for a point and run for the hills once West Brom loanee Callum Morton scored his well-taken equaliser on 63 minutes. Throwing caution to the wind and sensing that Sunderland were looking leggy, Lincoln stretched the play on both flanks and were unfortunate not to come away with all three points.
Young left-back, Cohen Bramall, who had been a threat all afternoon, grew in confidence as the game wore on. His pace and running from deep to support Lincoln’s attack was a key feature of their afternoon and with a little more precision at key moments, Bramall could have left the Stadium of Light as the Imps hero.
Having grabbed their equaliser, Lincoln capitalised on a Sunderland mistake from their own corner and as the most advanced player moving into the opposition half, Bramall could only find a Sunderland defender as he looked to put the ball across goal for Morgan Rogers.
Moments later, some fine interplay between Brennan Johnson and Rogers saw the latter get to the byline and as his pinpoint cut-back found Brammal, the youngster could only shoot straight at a relieved Lee Burge.
In the game’s last real chance, Anthony Scully’s doggedness on Lincoln’s right saw him not only keep the ball in play but win a key 50/50 challenge in the same passage, advancing to the byline but in cutting the ball back, Lee Burge made another vital save to prevent Rogers from sidefooting home.
At full time, it was Michael Appleton who was probably the most disappointed that his side couldn’t nick the win but there was no doubting his delight in his side’s performance following two successive defeats.
“We passed the ball well and were really aggressive out of possession. We pressed the life out of them, especially in that first half.
“When the game was getting longer, I felt there was only going to be one winner – and I think they [Sunderland] did as well.
“You can tell sometimes when the opposition are on the ropes. Once we got the equaliser, it was only going to be a matter of time. Unfortunately, the keeper has come up with some good saves.”
Sunderland boss Lee Johnson couldn’t hide his admiration for Lincoln’s performance and felt that the game had been one too many on the back of a gruelling schedule culminating from a trip to Wembley and a heavy pitch at Accrington on Wednesday evening.
“We’ve probably just shaded it in terms of possession and dangerous attacks, but at the same time they’ve got real threats on the counter.
“They’ve got youth, they’ve got brightness and they’re a difficult side to play against because of that. They’ve had a couple of chances, Burgey has had to make a couple of saves.
“I’m not going to be too critical, that’s for sure. They’ve put in a massive shift over the last few weeks and today, it’s human nature to look at other results, so it’s nothing lost and nothing gained in terms of the top six.”
The result left both sides well in the automatic promotion mix with Hull and Peterborough both dropping points ahead of them. If Sunderland can recharge their batteries, there’s no doubt that they can still make a late surge but Appleton’s men should be written off at peril following this display. The question is: can they hang in there?
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