Little to separate Tees - Wear Riverside rivals (From The Northern Echo)

Little to separate Tees - Wear Riverside rivals

2:03pm Thursday 9th February 2012 in Sunderland AFC News By Paul Fraser, Chief Football Writer

TWENTY-EIGHT years on and the outcome was very similar. Neither Martin O'Neill nor Tony Mowbray can remember much about the only occasion their playing careers crossed paths, but John Chiedozie probably does.

It was a Chiedozie strike that secured Notts County, with O'Neill cultured in midfield, a place in the next round of the FA Cup.

Mowbray, the young pro with his bleached blonde hair, led Middlesbrough from the back in his typical manner but they just came up short in their pursuit of progress.

Fast-forward through to February 2012 and there was an all-too familiar of coming up short for the local hero from Saltburn.

A place in the fifth round of the FA Cup might not be the priority for Mowbray this season, but having taken the lead in the first tie against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light there must be a feeling of what might have been this morning.

Instead, courtesy of Stephane Sessegnon's extra-time winner, O'Neill the manager was the one left celebrating with the fans, reminiscent of that afternoon at Meadow Lane in 1984.

There may be a division separating the two teams, but Sunderland never looked comfortable until the final stages, with Mowbray's inexpensively assembled group of largely homegrown talents almost proving a match for their Premier League counterparts.

There was nothing continental about the way O'Neill or Mowbray directed their teams to play. As Mowbray quite rightly outlined before the match, Sunderland's team effectively picked itself, no surprises.

The Middlesbrough boss even predicted Fraizer Campbell would return in attack and he was proved right.

Red shirts. Blue shirts. Two banks of four, with two men leading the line at either end. Forget the modern way, this was old-fashioned football at its best, with a bit of local bite too boot.

With that in mind, it was a cup tie in which the wingers would have a crucial role to play. Yet rather than the two men who have given Sunderland balance so tellingly under O'Neill, it was Middlesbrough's makeshift wide-man who proved the most influential in the first half.

Where James McClean and Seb Larrson's inclusions were guaranteed after starring roles on the Premier League stage, Mowbray's options on the flanks were more limited.

So it meant full-back Tony McMahon, who hardly set Saturday's goalless draw with Crystal Palace alight when he was asked to play in the same role for the opening half an hour, had another opportunity to shine there.

And after Julio Arca, who spent years as a fans' favourite on Wearside, had gone close with a long range effort in to Simon Mignolet, it was McMahon who became a central figure in proceedings.

All of the best chances before Jack Colback's stunning opener went through McMahon. A mixture of wasteful finishing and good goalkeeping from Mignolet that prevented Middlesbrough from taking the lead and the academy graduate claiming an assist.

Even after Colback's strike, which was still a result of a long ball from John O'Shea rather than the influence of Larsson or McClean, McMahon couldn't believe his luck. His low drive was thwarted on the line by Phil Bardsley when it was destined for the corner.

After the restart the input from McClean and Larsson both increased initially, which coincided with Sunderland becoming more dominant. Middlesbrough suddenly found themselves doing most of the chasing.

It didn't last for long, though. And once Seb Hines' deep centre was knocked in to the path by the effective Curtis Main for Lukas Jutkiewicz to pull things level, both O'Neill and Mowbray must have had plenty things running through their minds.

As they stood in their respective technical areas, a frantic cup tie ebbed and flowed, from one end to the other.

There might have been a few changes to personnel as the minutes ticked by, but neither felt the need to alter things tactically on a night when there was very little between two neighbours playing at different levels of the game.