‘Absolutely outstanding’: How incredible Sunderland scenes helped inspire Coventry City play-off win
Dan Neil says the extraordinary scenes in Sunderland ahead of the second leg of their play-off semi final against Coventry City inspired the team to get over the line.
Sunderland have released an in-house documentary called ‘Til The End, giving fans behind-the-scenes insight into the club’s ultimately victorious Championship play-off campaign. Having earned a narrow one-goal lead over Coventry City in the first leg, fans lined the streets on the team coaches’ route from the Academy of Light to the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland eventually won a difficult tie thanks to Dan Ballard’s 122nd-minute header, and Neil said he had never seen scenes like those in the city ahead of the game. The captain said the players were resolved to reward the fans by making it to Wembley, where they would then of course seal promotion with a comeback win against Sheffield United.
“We knew it was a sell-out crowd, a massive game,” Neil said.
“We knew that the Sunderland fans would massively turn up while the game was on and in the Stadium, I think what blew the boys away a little bit was the journey there. We’d seen stuff on social media that it was going to happen but we didn’t know how big it was going to be. We got to the lights and turned right to go down past the pub, and you just couldn’t see anything, it was just red flare after red flare. People banging on the bus. You could hear all the Sunderland chants… even for me, being from the area, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that as a fan. I think it really gave the boys that little bit of extra motivation, they’ve turned up in their numbers and they’re right behind us. We can’t let them leave this stadium with a loss.”
Head coach Régis Le Bris said the atmosphere generated was ”absolutely outstanding’.
“It was really impressive and even if we won important games in France before, this one was absolutely outstanding,” he said.
Dan Ballard reflects on his crucial Sunderland goal against Coventry City
Elsewhere in the documentary, Ballard reflected on his crucial goal and the scenes that followed in the Stadium of Light.
“It was two high pressure games, and we’d been on the back foot for a lot of them,” Ballard said.
“The corner was the last chance of the game and it’s all a bit of a blur now. I was just desperate to score, it was just the perfect moment. The ball in was perfect, the lads around me created the space, and the header was strange, just instinct I think. Thankfully it went in and after that, I think was just pure relief from everyone.”
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