Cats nailed by Hammers

Last week’s poll asked if Sunderland would be a stronger team with the return of the injured players. The vast majority of you thought they would, and with Stephen Wright and George McCartney joining the recently fit Kevin Kyle in the starting line up for the first time in months, it was a perfect opportunity to see if you were right.

A 2-0 loss and a Stephen Wright 23rd minute sending off would suggest not! However despite the scoreline it took West Ham 81 minutes to score past a resolute Sunderland, who at least had the fight back that seemed to have been missing in the previous two games.

Indeed Sunderland started brightly, Kyle with the first chance of the game on 10 minutes, shooting straight at Hislop after a flick on by Le Tallec.

That was to be the French forward’s last contributuon, the victim of McCarthy’s tactical changes immediately after Wright picked up his second booking for fouling Matthew Etherington, completing a nightmare comeback for the fullback.

Despite the numerical advantage West Ham – so impressive at Highbury earlier in the week – struggled to break down Sunderland, with Caldwell and Breen proving strong at the back. Christian Bassila’s return also added needed strength and steel in midfield whilst his eagerness to get forward was also encouraging.

Pardew threw on Sheringham and Harewood after the break and the latter striker thought he had finally broken the deadlock on 75 minutes only to see his effort ruled out for offside.

Before this Ashton had seen his header saved superbly by Kelvin Davis and Kyle blasted a rare Sunderland chance over the bar.

However the £7million man proved his worth when finally breaching Sunderland’s rearguard with a tap in after Davis could only parry Harewood’s shot. The win was sealed 3 minutes from time when Konchesky’s long-shot was somehow allowed to sneak under Davis’s body.

Again the same result, but one can only wonder what if, had Wright had not been foolishly sent off early on. McCartney put in a comfortable performance and once he regains full fitness his performances will only improve and his influence on the game increase. Hopefully his presence will also inspire a recently subdued Julio to get back to his best aswell.