IT was a day where from start to finish, it never looked like it was going to be anything other than a return to the Championship for Sunderland as their Wembley woes became a distant memory. When they’ve faltered on the grandest stage in the years gone by, their game plan was executed to near perfection with Alex Neil’s inspiring words firing his players onto a comfortable victory over Wycombe Wanderers.

The club’s formbook heading to the home of English football was electric without tasting defeat in 16 but this one-off game is often where you see the statistics and form cast aside. Not today.

Since his appointment back in February, Neil has not even remotely concerned himself with the club’s recent history and downward slide through the divisions. All he’s cared about is getting the players performing harmoniously so they can go on to make history. The chance to carve themselves into the club’s folklore was the theme of his pre-match conversations with his players.

“It’s so pleasing that that’s the case” said Neil. “When I was talking to the lads before the game, I was talking about moments. Moments in your life and moments in your career.

“You can have all the money in the world, you can play at higher levels and you can do this or do that, but if you look at any key players over the course of history, you think of their key moments. Van Basten? The volley. Maradona? The goal where he flicks it over the top of Shilton. It’s moments in time that are the most important thing.

“What I said to the lads today was, ‘This is your moment in time. You could be a hero today that will never be forgotten. Nobody will ever be able to take that away from you’. For Sunderland fans, this group, that team, those individuals, they’ll be remembered forever, and rightly so. I’m so, so pleased for them that that’s the case.”

Sunderland fans sold out their huge allocation of Wembley with many fans making their to Central London the days before to make their voices heard on Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square. Their might have been a few sore heads at Wembley the next day but their was no sore throats as they fierce support made it cauldron of noise. You could barely hear the Wycombe end as both sets of players made the long walk out of the tunnel at 2:55pm.

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If the words of the manager weren’t enough to create a fire in the belly, that certainly was. Sunderland started the game like a house on fire and for a brief moment, the fans thought they got the moment they had craved when their head hit the pillow on Friday night when man of the match Alex Pritchard whipped his free-kick into the side netting in the third minute.

The wait for a goal wouldn’t be too much longer. Sunderland were rewarded for their first start when Elliot Embleton drove through the heart of the field past two Wycombe players and lashed home from 20 yards out. Question marks surrounding the efforts of the Chairboys keeper David Stockdale in keeping out the shot but the local boy cared not one bit as he catapulted himself into the air in celebration.

Gareth Ainsworth’s side began to have a go but Sunderland’s rearguard stood firm handling plenty of balls into the box. But one small slip from Bailey Wright almost handed Sam Vokes a lifeline before Anthony Patterson smothered his close effort. But that was to be their only clearcut chance.

With the tension of a one goal cushion in the minds of the fans, Sunderland hit the killer blow at crucial time in the game. Ross Stewart showed the striker’s poise he showed all season firing low into the corner beating the rooted Stockdale and effectively rubber stamping the result ten minutes from time.

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The game reached it’s conclusion and while the players afforded themselves on the whistle celebrations, it wasn’t an overjoyed reaction. It was more of a sense of relief. Relief that a long overdue stay in the third tier had come to an end.

Manager Neil said: “When you come to a club like Sunderland, people love a fallen giant, don’t they? They love to stick the boot into a fallen giant. ‘You shouldn’t be where you are’. ‘You’ve not done this, this is rubbish, that’s rubbish’.”

His reign in charge has been nothing short of remarkable for the club’s fortunes as he continued: “It was such a challenge for me to come here because it’s hoovered up managers in the last four or five years. It’s been tough for people. But I’ve always had the confidence and belief that I could come to a big club.

“I went to Norwich from Hamilton, which was a huge jump in terms of level and infrastructure, and after I left Preston, I felt as though I needed to go somewhere and show everybody what I think I can do again. But if I’m being brutally honest, you can only ever do that with really good players and a really good squad. The backing we’ve received from the fans over the last three months has been incredible.”