EDITOR'S CHOICE NEWS National role for leading school Spreading message of silent killer risk Cancer drug pioneer Colin dies with family by his side Parents of 12-year-old boy donate his organs FILM REVIEWS The Mist (15) Kung Fu Panda (PG) NEWS IN VIDEO Seagulls terrorise seaside town shoppers Plane named in Keegan's honour Hartlepool bus crash victim hands over fundraising cheque to air ambulance Newcastle's new signing - they call him spiderman and here's why... Rocket to the Toon RACING PODCAST Racing tips and reports with Graham Orange of Go Racing FORMULA 1 News and Race Reports F1 Blog Circuit Guide Predictions THE HEADLINE GAME * Pit your wits against The Northern Echo and TFM in The Headline Game GET OUR NEWS BY E-MAIL Just register

Most read Comments 1 Woman accused in brawl trial breaks down during evidence 2 Boy found hanged in cell 'failed by system' 3 Judge's tragic past is revealed 4 Shop foots the bill for student's broken ankle 5 Army families to move onto estate 6 Big Phil makes a big impact 7 Cats look to The Animal 8 Pool launch new home kit 9 Victim wins the right to sue rapist 10 Durham want Tykes kicked out of Twenty20 Today | 7 Days 1 Sir Elton has 'em rocking at the arena 2 Rocketman Elton blazes star trail 3 1066 and all that 4 Elton John: Viv Hardwick's review 5 Bin Laden family in bid for Magpies 6 Children questioned over slaughter of 100 animals 7 Tragic teen forced to drink petrol and set alight 8 Children questioned over slaughter of pets 9 Villagers pledge to fight plan for second wind turbine site 10 Park and ride scheme plans hit the brakes

Comment

AFTER this turgid narrow defeat, Sunderland must now switch their attention towards next Saturday's trip to Derby County in the hope of finally ending their search for an away win this season.

Otherwise, having failed to find the required three points at Portsmouth, further disappointment at Pride Park next weekend and Sunderland could be in more than a spot of relegation trouble again.

While this result is by no means disastrous, it is victories on Sunderland's travels manager Roy Keane is striving for and both today's long trek and next week's trip to Derby were decent opportunities to achieve such.

From there, there will be the visits of Champions League-chasing Everton and Chelsea to the Stadium of Light before a difficult trip to Aston Villa is followed by another tricky home fixture against West Ham.

And if much needed wins are to arrive against any of the above then it will be clear to Keane that his players will have to keep possession better.

Time and time again, the players in red and white gifted the ball back to an out of sorts Pompey that were there for the beating, despite the clever midfield play of Lassana Diarra.

Kenwyne Jones often cut an isolated figure on his own up front, as many a long pass evaded the towering Trinidad and Tobago international in the final third.

And once Phil Bardsley had tripped Niko Kranjcar in the area, with Jermain Defoe slotting in the opener, there was no way back for the Black Cats.

5:33pm Saturday 23rd February 2008

Print

Email this

Comment

Add your comment

Name:
Email: *
Location:
**
	e.g. 123-123
Comment: Please note: All HTML tags will be ignored. Format Text:
By posting a comment, I confirm that I have read and agree to the terms of use. Comments are not moderated but we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention and we may delete inappropriate postings. Please treat other people with respect. You must not post anything that is abusive, indecent, unlawful or defamatory. Remember, you are personally liable for what you post on this site. If you wish to complain about a comment, contact us here.
* Your email address will not be displayed ** To avoid register now or login