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Sunderland fans unhappy as club only opens one stand and Newcastle fan scores killer goal to sink them

6 years ago
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Sunderland fans can at least take pride in the fact they lasted long enough in the League Cup to see the second round draw.

By virtue of the game being moved to Thursday for live TV, the mackems could watch the second round draw beforehand, set to play Wolves if they got past Sheffield Wednesday.

However, there was to be no giant killing last night.

The Owls running out 2-0 winners and Sunderland only managing one shot on target all night.

Just to rub it in, after Matias had put the visitors ahead on 29 minutes, it was then massive Newcastle fan Adam Reach who killed the Mackems off in the 79th minute.

A special moment for a lifelong Newcastle fan from Chester le Street, who grew up watching and idolising Alan Shearer, as well as hoping he could emulate the talent of Laurent Robert with Reach also playing on the left (read below).

Adam Reach was actually with Newcastle until the age of 15 but then moved to Middlesbrough and eventually came through as a first team player, then later joining Sheffield Wednesday in 2016 for £5m.

As well as the result and a Newcastle fan scoring the killer goal, many Sunderland fans were also unhappy with a decision made before the game by their new owners.

With so few Sunderland fans expected to turn up, the Mackem hierarchy decided to open only one stand, leaving the other three empty, despite Sheff Wed taking healthy support to the game (making up a decent proportion of the 13,890 attendance).

Some very amusing comments (see below) as Sunderland fans unhappy about a number of things including: experiencing queues for a change, being forced to mix with their supporters who usually sit in other stands, the atmosphere, and old people getting in their way…

Sunderland fans comment via their Ready To Go message board:

‘I was pretty critical of people that said they weren’t going (or thinking about not going) because they had to sit in the east stand.

After tonight, I have more sympathy with their view.

Only having one stand open means all types of people are together.’

‘It was shi.. like. Took about 10 minutes to get down the steps at full time because of the daft old bast…s anarl.’

‘Didn’t help the atmosphere , daft having away fans up top anarl.’

‘Atmosphere was non existent apart from the Sheff Wed fans.’

‘Aye absolutely terrible, bad idea. Plus queue’s outside again at kick off. Two games out of two.’

‘Nae good having one stand open. I’m actually glad for the first time ever we’re out of the cup. Leagues more important’

‘No atmosphere at all, it was like a reserve game.’

‘Well we’re out now anyhow so might as well close this conversation til next season.’

‘…. or until the two Checkatrade trophy games?’

‘I would imagine they could open one of the corners and get the full crowd in for that like.’

‘Was a terrible idea – said it at the time. It’s all because people have some sort of weird fetish about us having empty seats on TV.’

‘From a football support pov it was utter cack. Total lack of atmosphere, hardly any singing/chants, which totally let the Wednesday fans dominate the arena.’

‘It was f…ing hideous. Utter f…ing clampets there tonight.

One bloke said it was the worst he’d seen in years.

There’s a lot to be said for watching it on TV.’

‘First time the east stand has been full for a couple of years.’

‘The problem for me wasnt really the atmosphere, it was the mixing of fans. That might sound daft but as an example, there were lads in front of us that (I’d imagine) usually sit in the South stand. They didn’t really do anything wrong but we’re acting like 20 year old drunk bell…s do.

I wouldn’t take my mate’s 8 year old son in the South Stand for that very reason but by not having a choice where we sat, this was an issue.

It was probably even more of an issue for the old dear that was sat next to them. I’d imagine she’s not used to people like that around her in her North stand (again an assumption on my part) seat with her blanket and flask.’

‘Didn’t work for TV either – the empty sides were of course still evident.’

‘Made for an even flatter atmosphere than usual in the cup and looked empty on telly anyway with behind the goals empty.’

‘I was surprised at how many away fans there were to be honest. They brought a decent number for a tinpot cup tie on a Thursday night.’

‘It was a bit of an eye opener having to mix with some of the f…ers from the south stand.’

Adam Reach interviewed by The Express in December 2017:

Boyhood sporting hero?

‘I’m a big Newcastle fan. The time I was growing up was in their heyday under Bobby Robson in the Champions League. At that time we had great players and my hero was Alan Shearer, probably just the same as every other Newcastle fan of that era. Unfortunately, I’ve never met him.

‘I think he’s underestimated by a lot of people. His Premier League record will take some beating. I know that the likes of Harry Kane will be looking to beat it, but they are going to have to do really well to surpass his record. It’s incredible really.

‘You’d probably have to go far and wide to find a Newcastle fan for whom Alan Shearer wasn’t their hero.

‘I always used to like Laurent Robert as well. He was a left winger like me. He was a bit hit and miss at Newcastle but when he did score, he scored some incredible goals. He was always someone I looked up to. I wished that I could play left midfield for Newcastle and score goals like he did.’

Which player in history would you like to play alongside?

‘As a wide player, I do like to just get past the full-back and put crosses in, so my dream as a winger would just be a striker who loves to score goals so I’m going to go with Alan Shearer. He was the type of striker that if you just put balls in the box, nine times out of 10 he was on the end of it, whether that was with his head or his foot.

‘With him getting 260 Premier League goals, as a winger I think you would pride yourself looking back and thinking that you had helped him get so many of those goals. That would have been nice.

‘He could have made me look good as well. You might not be playing so well but if you just put balls in the box and he finishes them, the assists are going down in your name and people aren’t thinking about how well you’ve played. If you’re putting 10 or 15 goals a season on his head, that’s going to look good on you.’

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