By Longsider
December 1 2003

A look back on the game against Sunderland through the eyes of the media. We have reports from the Sunday Times and the Sunday Telegraph. Report from the Sunday Times:-

Sunderland 1 Burnley 1: MOORE HURTS SUNDERLAND

THE joke told by Sunderland fans about their club’s fall into the old Third Division in the mid-1980s is that Lawrie McMenemy, the manager who presided over their fall from grace, and the Titanic have something in common: neither should have left Southampton.
As Sunderland wonder whether they will recapture their place in the Premiership next season, the decision to allow Kevin Phillips to move is of concern on Wearside. Their chronic lack of firepower is undermining their promotion hopes.



“The game could have finished 10-10,” Stan Ternent, the Burnley manager, said after this encounter. The visitors created a handful of opportunities before Ian Moore scored their second-half equaliser.

Mick McCarthy, the Sunderland boss, dropped Marcus Stewart from the starting line-up at the Stadium of Light and reinstated Michael Proctor, who set up Kevin Kyle’s strike after 39 minutes.

Sunderland were foiled by the heroics in the Burnley goal of Ryan Jensen.

“He kept them in the game in the first 15 minutes and everything seemed to go down his throat,” McCarthy said. “If we’d got a goal when we were all over them early on then who knows what would have happened.”

Sunderland need a goalscorer or their promotion dreams will fade away.


Report from the Sunday Telegraph:-

SLIPS CONFOUND KYLE

Sunderland (1) 1 Burnley (0) 1

Life at home was a source of serious concern for Kevin Kyle after his first goal in nearly two months failed to secure Sunderland's first Stadium of Light victory since mid-October.

On the domestic front, the Scottish striker was worried about being inhospitable to his family, who had been invited to Wearside for the weekend. Professionally, Kyle admitted to serious misgivings about Sunderland's patchy home form.

"With the team we've got, we should be trying to win this league comfortably - so a draw has ruined my weekend. I'll go home grumpy.

"Our home form worries me because we expect to win most of our home games. We've almost won more on our travels than at home. We're drawing too many."

In 10 home league games, Sunderland have already dropped 12 points - three more than their championship-winning predecessors in the entire 1998-99 campaign. "It's a strange division because anyone can beat anyone on their day," Kyle added.

Kyle put Sunderland ahead in the first half with a calmly executed shot past the excellent Brian Jensen - his eighth goal of the campaign. Ian Moore deservedly equalised for Burnley, who possessed the best outfield players in Robbie Blake and Glen Little.

Little almost spoiled his good work by surrendering possession to Marcus Stewart, whose hesitation let him off the hook. "Glen played him in because he couldn't see; he'd lost a contact lens," manager Stan Ternent explained.