Southampton 1, Sunderland 2.

THIS weekend marked the 95th anniversary of the Titanic's ill-fated departure from Southampton but, while Sunderland's promotion push initially looked like sinking as they fell behind in the south coast city yesterday, a spectacular late comeback means it is now full speed ahead for the Premiership for Roy Keane's men.

With Derby and Birmingham both failing to record victories earlier in the day, second-half strikes from Carlos Edwards and Grant Leadbitter took the Black Cats to the top of the Championship table for the first time this season and, perhaps more crucially, opened up clear water between the Wearsiders and the play-off places.

With just four games of the season to go - none of which are against teams in the top eight - Sunderland now enjoy a one-point lead over Derby and a five-point advantage over Birmingham.

The Blues still have a game in hand, but a voyage that initially looked doomed for disaster under the tutelage of Niall Quinn now appears all but certain to end in an unscheduled arrival at the promised land of the Premiership.

Keane's hand on the tiller has proved crucial, with the battling qualities that the former Manchester United skipper personified as a player hauling the Black Cats to a spirited victory at St Mary's that certainly felt like a decisive moment in the Championship campaign.

Trailing to Marek Saganowski's 67th-minute opener, Sunderland were staring down the barrel of their first league defeat of 2007 as the game entered its final 13 minutes.

But first Edwards, then local lad Leadbitter summoned the courage and nerve to convert long-range opportunities from outside the area that changed the complexion of the promotion race in a stroke.

Automatic promotion is now Sunderland's to lose and, on the evidence of yesterday's startling turnaround, losing is something that the Black Cats are reluctant to do in even the most testing of circumstances.

A side that appeared to be suffering from a negative mentality in the opening month of the season have become an outfit that no longer know when they are beaten.

Keane's astute man management has undoubtedly contributied to an unbeaten run that now stretches to 16 league games.

The Black Cats boss made changes both before and during the game yesterday, and again they worked to perfection with Leadbitter, who had only been on the pitch for 17 minutes, rifling a 20-yard strike into the top right-hand corner of the net to secure a priceless victory.

If Sunderland are to be promoted to the Premiership next month, then the size of their squad, and Keane's management of it, will undoubtedly have been a factor.

Confidence has also played a crucial role in the club's surge up the Championship table, and the effect of their lengthy unbeaten run was clear from the way Sunderland started and ended yesterday's encounter.

With Edwards and Tobias Hysen marauding down their respective flanks from the off, the Black Cats could have scored three goals inside the opening 20 minutes.

As it was, Connolly's 14th-minute shot that struck the base of the right-hand post was the closest they came to making a first-half breakthrough, with the Irishman profiting from Elliott's elaborate step-over.

Elliott went close himself four minutes later, when Saints goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski had to be at his most alert to tip the striker's low shot around his near post.

From the resultant corner, Dwight Yorke directed a free header over the crossbar.

A goal at that stage would have been no more than Sunderland deserved, but the Saints are not the Championship's second leading scorers for nothing and, as the first half progressed, George Burley's men gradually began to make telling attacking incisions of their own.

Surprisingly, they were aided by some unexpected laxness in the Black Cats' defence with Liam Miller, who was withdrawn at half-time, twice conceding possession as he dawdled in his own half.

Even the normally-reliable Jonny Evans suffered a momentary aberration that almost cost Sunderland dear.

The Manchester United loanee appeared to have time on his side as he took possession of a short pass from Danny Collins.

But he hesitated long enough for Leon Best to nick the ball off his foot and his blushes were only spared when Darren Ward raced from his line to block the striker's subsequent low shot with his legs.

At least Evans was being compared to Pele at the end of the first half.

But the comparison lost some of its lustre once it became apparent that the Pele in question was Southampton's Cape Verde-born defender rather than Brazil's legendary number ten.

Pele also lost possession deep inside his own territory on the stroke of half-time.

But just as Best had failed to make the most of Evans' earlier error, so Edwards wasted his opportunity by blazing over the bar.

While a goalless first half hardly represented a disaster given earlier results, Keane's desire to make a breakthrough still saw him turn to both Dean Whitehead and Anthony Stokes at the interval.

But while Yorke flashed a 58th-minute strike wide of the upright, it was Southampton who finally made the breakthrough shortly after the hour mark.

Danny Guthrie outfought Collins to nudge Djamel Belmadi's cross back across the face of goal, and the in-form Marek Saganowski reacted quickest to bundle a close-range strike past Ward.

It was the Pole's eighth goal in the last eight games and, in the context of the promotion race, it looked like being his most important.

Things almost got worse for the Black Cats moments later, Ward saving with his legs after the lively Guthrie found space down Southampton's right again.

But just as the game appeared to be slipping out of Sunderland's reach, so Edwards conjured up another special from his box of right-wing tricks.

The Trinidadian had already scored one goal-of-the-season contender at Birmingham in February, and he duly produced another by cutting in from the touchline to unleash a ferocious left-footed drive that arced into the top right-hand corner of the net.

That would have been enough to cement Sunderland's position in the top two, but things got even better when Leadbitter found the same spot in the netting after advancing unchecked towards the edge of the 18-yard box.

It hadn't been easy, but by the time the final whistle blew less than a mile from where the Titanic set sail, it was Sunderland who were cruising.