Tomorrow’s game brings a raised level of excitement to all Sunderland fans, especially those who remember previous Cup runs, including the most memorable one of 1973 which ended in an amazing victory against the odds. I was young at the time, but that was an incredibly special time.
I also recall a terrific win against Everton in the Premiership;s 1996-7 season, when the young Michael Bridges came on for Craig Russell when the game was pretty even at 1-1. He scored twice late on to send the travelling fans home with an excellent 3-1 win. Peter Reid gave Bridges a new contract the following week, but although the talented striker failed to realise his potential in an injury-affected career, he definitely made an impression that day.
BTW, if your memory of Sunderland games ever fails you, all these stats can be found at: http://www.thestatcat.co.uk
We have to go back a long way for good results against tomorrow's opposition, because our more recent record at Goodison is not so great; in fact we have not won in any the last 15 home and away versus the Toffees.
For tomorrow’s vital game, Sunderland will be without top performers Lee Cattermole and Stephane Sessegnon who were both dismissed against Newcastle. Wing-back Kieran Richardson is still a doubt after missing last week’s win over Liverpool, but hopefully our on-loan striker Nicklas Bendtner, who is on a very good scoring run should recover from a knee injury in time.
For Everton, another ex-Man. Utd man Gibson remains sidelined with a knee injury, and Stephen Pienaar is cup-tied after appearing for Spurs in earlier rounds. Cup games are special, though - they are one-off encounters, but we know how well Everton have been playing, on a 5-match winning run at home.
Everton were stuffed 3-0 though in midweek, and hopefully we will catch them on a bad day. Our form has been very good under Martin O’Neill, with 11 wins in 18, and I am sure he will get the best out of his players tomorrow - this is the FA Cup and we are in it to win it, according to the boss. The Lads are playing with confidence, and I would be happy if McLean could emulate Bridges, at least in this game.
©Lars J.S. Knutsen
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Posted by Sunaina on 05/10/2012
13.9 miles from Newcastle Uni to Sunderland Centre .0.00 Start out at Newcastle upon Tyne University,Tyne And Wear B1318 0.000.05 Turn left onto Great North Road B1318 B1318 0.050.09 Junction for A167/A167(M) B1318 0.140.03 Branch left, then join the A167(M) motorway (signposted Jedburgh, Morpeth, A167(M) South) A167(M) 0.170.22 Junction with A1058 A167(M) 0.390.05 Keep in right hand lane (signposted A167(M) City Centre, The South) A167(M) 0.440.37 Junction with A193 (New Bridge Street) A167(M) 0.800.32 Junction for City Centre (South), Walker (A186) A167(M) 1.120.24 Bear right onto City Road A167 A167 1.360.18 Tyne Bridge A167 1.530.04 Continue forwrad onto the A167. Entering Gateshead A167 1.570.17 At edge of Gateshead town centre continue forwrad onto Gateshead Highway A167 (signposted South Shields, Sunderland A184) A167 1.740.19 Junction for Gateshead Town Centre A167 1.930.01 Keep in right hand lane, then at roundabout take the 1st exit onto Park Lane A184 (signposted South Shields, Sunderland) A184 1.941.31 Warning: Speed Cameras along the A184 A184 3.250.76 Heworth Metro Station A184 4.010.01 At roundabout take the 2nd exit onto the A184 (signposted Sunderland) A184 4.031.41 Junction with A194(M)/A194 A184 5.430.02 Continue forwrad across flyover A184 5.450.21 Travelodge (Newcastle Whitemare Pool) A184 5.661.69 At Testos roundabout take the 3rd exit onto the A19 (signposted Teesside) A19 7.352.24 Branch left, then at roundabout take the 1st exit onto Wessington Way A1231 (signposted Sunderland) Entering Sunderland A1231 9.590.43 At Ferryboat Roundabout take the 2nd exit onto Wessington Way A1231 A1231 10.020.43 Snax 24 Wessington Way A1231 10.450.03 At Enterprise 1 Roundabout take the 2nd exit onto Wessington Way A1231 (signposted City Centre) A1231 10.480.50 At Enterprise 2 Roundabout take the 3rd exit onto Wessington Way A1231 (signposted City Centre) A1231 10.980.36 At Enterprise 3 Roundabout take the 2nd exit onto Wessington Way A1231 (signposted City Centre) A1231 11.350.75 Junction with A1290 (Queen Alexandra Bridge North) A1231 12.090.04 Continue forwrad (one-way) then keep in right hand lane and follow signs City Centre A1231 A1231 12.130.42 Queen Alexandra Bridge (River Wear) A1231 12.550.21 At roundabout take the 2nd exit onto Pallion New Road A1231 (signposted City Centre) A1231 12.760.32 At roundabout take the 2nd exit onto Trimdon Street A1231 A1231 13.080.27 At roundabout take the 2nd exit onto Silksworth Row A1231 A1231 13.350.14 At roundabout take the 2nd exit onto the A1231 (signposted Durham A690, Teesside A19) A1231 13.490.20 Travelodge (Sunderland Central) A1231 13.690.00 At Minster Junction traffic signals continue forwrad A1231 13.690.10 At Priestman Roundabout take the 2nd exit onto Stockton Road A1231 (signposted Teesside A19) A1231 13.800.13 Arrive at Sunderland,Tyne And Wear A1231 13.93- Section time 0:27, Total time 0:27 -
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Lars Knutsen was born in Sunderland of Norwegian parents across the Wear from the SSOL back when shipbuilding not car manufacture was the city’s main industry. His first game was in 1968 and he has followed the Black Cats since then, with great memories of the 1973 FA Cup. He hopes the “yo-yo” days are over and defines supporting a team by whether the result affects your mood (but maybe not in the way portrayed in the book “Fever Pitch”!) so has been cheerful recently. He endured school in Newc**tle, has a Ph.D. in Chemistry, a Professorship at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, and works in the Pharma industry as a consultant Medicinal Chemist.
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