IN the end, the first North-East derby of the season was defined as much by what didn’t happen as what did. Ross Stewart didn’t play, Tony Mowbray didn’t enjoy a successful return to the Riverside, and for once, Middlesbrough didn’t concede a last-gasp goal and wilt in the face of some spirited late Sunderland pressure. As a result, it is Teesside rather than Wearside that was celebrating at the final whistle.

Riley McGree’s first-half strike settled things, with the Australian firing home after breaking onto Ryan Giles’ ball infield. McGree spurned another fine chance before the interval, and Anthony Patterson was forced to make three excellent second-half saves to keep Sunderland in the game, but for all that Boro were just about the better side, they had to survive more than a few nervy moments in order to claim their second win of the season. Having made a host of summer changes, Chris Wilder continues to preside over a work in progress.

Mowbray has only been in the hotseat at the Stadium of Light for a week, and while he will be understandably disappointed to have lost at his former home, the new Sunderland boss will feel he has plenty to work with despite his side’s loss. Had Jack Clarke been able to pick out a team-mate playing in blue, perhaps things might have been different. Had Stewart not suffered a thigh injury during the warm-up, surely Sunderland’s chances would have increased.

As it was, both sides were able to take something from the game, even if it was Boro who eventually left with the points. It felt like a game the Teessiders really needed to win, and they made it over the line. Fluency might come rather more easily now Boro are heading back up the table.

McGree’s effective attacking performance was a major positive for the hosts, as was the accomplished goalkeeping display delivered by Liam Roberts. Zack Steffen might have started the season as Boro’s number one – the American is not guaranteed to retain that status when he returns from injury.

Sunderland will reflect on what might have been, particularly when it comes to Stewart. The Scot was Sunderland’s attacking talisman as they finally clambered out of League One last season, and if anything, he has been even more influential as the Black Cats have sought to reestablish themselves in the Championship this term.

Above all of his team-mates, he would have been the one player Mowbray would not have wanted to be without on his return to Teesside, but having pulled up during the pre-match warm-up clutching his thigh, it quickly became apparent that Stewart would not be reappearing for kick-off.

Patrick Roberts stepped in for him in the starting side, but for all his attacking attributes, the former Boro loanee was hardly a like-for-like replacement. For their biggest game since May’s play-off final, Sunderland were shorn of their brightest star. It is almost as if Alex Neil might have had a point when he spent most of the summer preaching about the need to sign another striker.

Stewart’s absence proved a crucial factor, even though Ellis Simms did his best to lead the line in his fellow striker’s absence, throwing himself into challenges against Dael Fry, who replaced the injured Darragh Lenihan at the heart of the Boro backline, and linking the play reasonably effectively with his back to goal.

Ultimately, the Black Cats’ lack of a cutting edge told, but to be fair to the visitors, things might have been different had Alex Pritchard opened the scoring when a golden opportunity came his way in just the seventh minute.

Roberts robbed Matt Clarke of possession as the Boro defender dawdled on the ball in his own half, and Pritchard looked destined to score when Simms rolled the ball into his path on the edge of the area. The Sunderland midfielder opened up his body to curl the ball into the corner, but got his angles all wrong and fired a wasteful effort wide of the target.

It was to prove a crucial miss. Boro came under pressure on the break on a number of occasions in the opening quarter-of-an-hour, but having ridden out their opponents’ early storm, the hosts gradually set about controlling possession and establishing a territorial dominance in the Sunderland half.

With Matt Crooks and Alex Mowatt covering a large amount of ground on either side of Jonny Howson, and McGree floating around to support Rodrigo Muniz, the Teessiders won the midfield battle for the majority of the night. As a result, it did not take long for chances to arrive.

Crooks blazed over after Danny Batth blocked an initial effort from Muniz, before Boro’s Brazilian forward threatened himself, screwing a first-time shot wide after a pull-back from Isaiah Jones.

McGree hooked a half-volley over after Ryan Giles crossed from the left, and when the pair combined again midway through the first half, the deadlock was broken. Giles’ ball from the left-hand side invited McGree to break towards goal, and having burst between Batth and Luke O’Nien, the Australian slotted a deft finish past Patterson. It was McGree’s second goal in successive home games, and enabled Boro to exert a degree of control over proceedings.

McGree almost added another goal on the stroke of half-time, but after his refusal to give up on a lost cause enabled him to win the ball close to the Sunderland penalty area, he stroked a side-footed effort too close to Patterson after a slick one-two with Crooks opened up the Black Cats defence.

McGree has not always convinced as a ‘number ten’ this season, but this was an occasion when his willingness to break into the 18-yard box proved a key factor in his side’s success.

Boro did not have things all their own way – an injury to Paddy McNair at the start of the second half resulted in the Northern Irishman’s withdrawal, with Anfernee Dijskteel replacing him – but if anything, the hosts’ dominance became even more pronounced in the 20 minutes or so after the interval.

Crooks saw a 20-yard shot deflect narrowly wide after Howson’s cross had been nodded down into his path, and Muniz failed to convert an excellent opportunity to double Boro’s lead shortly after the hour mark.

The Brazilian was granted a free header as he met Mowatt’s just outside the six-yard box, but while his effort was on target, it lacked real power, enabling Patterson to claw the ball away.

Sunderland needed something to spark them into life as they attempted to force their way back into the game, and it might well have arrived had Fry not produced an excellent last-gasp challenge to prevent Simms from getting a shot away in the area.

As it was, Mowbray was forced to turn to his substitutes’ bench in an attempt to change things, handing a debut to summer signing Amad Diallo and also throwing on Elliot Embleton.

Duncan Watmore came on for Boro, and the former Sunderland forward almost made an instant impact, breaking through the middle to reach Mowatt’s pass in order to produce a flicked shot that Patterson saved.

Roberts was called into action at the other end with ten minutes left, diverting Embleton’s goal-bound free-kick over the crossbar, and to their credit, the Black Cats threatened to build up a head of steam as they pinned Boro’s defenders back in the closing stages.

Their best chance of an equaliser came to nothing with four minutes left though, with Diallo inexplicably attempting to roll the ball back to Simms when his break into the box looked to have taken him into an inviting shooting position.