Pete Sixsmith comes over all poetic as he witnesses an important and impressive win over the Tigers

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that the city of Kingston-upon-Hull could be described as paradise, but it was certainly not hell for the happy band of Red and Whites who trundled home along the M62/A1 on Saturday, celebrating a so impressive 4-1 away win.

We won by a similar score in 1976, thanks to the likes of Gary Rowell, Joe Bolton and Jimmy Montgomery. All three are local born legends whose names are uttered in reverential terms whenever Sunderland fans of a certain vintage meet to quaff a few pints. After Saturday, it may well be that 30 years on from now, we will not be thinking local, but thinking French and instead of reminiscing about Joe Bolton’s terriers and Gary Rowell’s impeccable credentials as a Seaham lad, we will be waxing lyrical about Steed’s thunderous shot and Djibril’s pace, power and green Mohican.

Ricky Sbragia (or Spragia as Tyne Tees Useless captioned him last Friday) could not have wished for a better start. This time, he and his co-workers showed exactly what they were capable of by preparing a team to win a game against opposition who were neither monumentally superior to us or so woeful that Shildon Railway would have given them a good game.

Look at the scenario; Hull are on a high after a good draw at Anfield, their manager – a self-confessed Sunderland fanatic – would be desperate to put one over his first and lasting love, they have a full house with kids dressed up as Tigers and men dressed up as Santa, and three more points could put them in a UEFA Cup place at Christmas. And what happens? Sunderland swing into town and give them a real going over.

(more…)