Match Diaries
Sunderland 2 West Ham 1
OH Daryl. What will he be feeling like tonight? After a nightmare miss that should have put Sunderland in front against West Ham nine minutes before the end.
The chances are he will be feeling a whole lot better now than he might have been. Andy Reid, the little chubby Irishman with a gift for football, has hit the injury-time winner that has got everyone on Wearside thinking about Premier League football next season.
Having worked themselves into a position of strength after falling behind to an early Freddie Ljungberg strike, Sunderland always looked like winning this.
But they had also looked like wasting it when Daryl Murphy, whose flick gifted Kenwyne Jones the chance to equalise, struck over from close-range when it looked easier to score ten minutes from time - leaving everyone inside the Stadium of Light stunned.
But Reid's cushioned volley has claimed three points - ahead of next Saturday's trip to Fulham - that has given the Black Cats a seven-point gap over the relegation zone as they head towards April.
At this stage, with Reid pulling the strings in midfield, it has to be said that Sunderland resembled a team more than capable of staying up even before the midfielder scored.
But failing to pick up home victories when they are within their grasp could have proven costly. That now, though, is immaterial. All the signs point to preserving top-flight status.
5:25pm Saturday 29th March 2008
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