RR’s End of Season Awards: What was Sunderland’s best win of the season? (2024)

Sunderland’s Best Win of The Season: Nominees

Matty Crichton: Sunderland 3-1 Birmingham

Remember when things on Wearside felt good? The style of play was great and the team was scoring goals, it feels now like we even took being enjoyable to watch for granted given how insanely boring and dull we became at the latter stages of a forgettable season.

Now while I fully acknowledge this was against a poor Wayne Rooney side, the man who truly made the wheels fall off at Birmingham, when you consider our team at the time, it actually felt like our summer signings were going to pay off.

Rusyn looked sharp, hit the post and assisted Jobe’s opener (possibly his best game in a Sunderland shirt). We managed to win with a centre half pairing of Nectar Triantis and Jenson Seelt. Aouchiche even got his first goal in a red and white shirt to seal the victory!

We were a side who played with two wingers who would take people on and two full-backs who would get forward to help and even with a weakened squad, we were scoring goals and SIXTH in the league.

This was the type of result that displayed the Sunderland side I loved to watch and the style of play I hope the new manager can revert back to!

Ian Bendelow: Sheff Wed 0-3 Sunderland

There were perhaps better victories against stronger sides but this was a performance reminiscent of the 2022/23 vintage, and as the season progressed it reminded you of what a superb job Tony Mowbray did at Sunderland.

From the off it was a blitz as two goals in the opening eight minutes meant the following 82 would be a mere procession. Firstly Dan Ballard rewrote the dictionary definition of towering header, before Jack Clarke rifled home after cutting in from the left.

Although only nine games had elapsed, Sunderland at that point were 4th in the table with 16 points. We could have all been forgiven for expecting more of the same.

“In contrast, Tony Mowbray’s eye-catching side sit five points behind leaders Leicester after a fifth league win in seven - and a third away victory in a fortnight” was the BBC’s analysis of the situation and it only served to underline what a travesty the season was to become.

The arrogance and hubris displayed by the board in removing Tony Mowbray such was their dedication to a particular approach was the defining reason why Sunderland would only manage three more victories away from home across the rest of the campaign.

Malc Dugdale: Sunderland 1-0 Leeds

Leeds were pretty invincible and I expected a pasting with the temporary coach in place, but the grit and battle we showed was awesome, and the opportune headed goal by Jobe nicked it for us.

For Mike Dodds to get this win after also getting all three points at West Brom was huge, and temporarily vindicated the release of Mowbray.

It left us thinking that better things may come after the departure of our old Revel munching mate.

We ended up being very wrong about that later but this game really gave me a shot in the arm that we needed at the time, so was certainly one of our best wins of the campaign.

Ewan Bowman: Sunderland 5-0 Southampton

Arguably the last game where we played very well for the entire 90 minutes - and definitely the last MoggaBall performance before his departure. We passed the ball, got the ball out wide and terrorised Southampton's defence all afternoon.

Southampton didn’t know what hit them from the first minute when Jack Clarke scored. These were followed by goals from Pierre Ekwah who scored twice including a beauty from outside the box, Bradley Dack and a first senior goal for Chris Rigg that gave us a resounding victory on a fabulous Sunny Afternoon on Wearside.

A complete performance that we never saw replicated again throughout the season.

Bomber: Sunderland 3-1 Norwich

As we sit with the season finished, this might not seem like the best win retrospectively but Norwich are a team who have made it to the playoffs, and at the time it felt like a huge sliding doors moment for us.

After very painful defeats in the Wear-Tees and the Lynden Gooch derbies, plus the disappointment of what could have been at the King Power stadium, the lads had dropped like a stone. From sitting pretty in 4th place we were coming into the game in 10th, with fans somewhat concerned that the season might be over before it had really started.

The groans vibrated around the Stadium of Light as Groundhog Day struck again and despite controlling the opening 20 minutes, we once again found ourselves conceding against the run of play.

What really made this game stand out for me was the team’s response to going a goal behind, along with some fantastic individual performances where players stood up and took responsibility. It takes you back to the dominant, exciting Sunderland we all loved. Some of the finest performances of the season came in the remaining 70 minutes.

Trai Hume, Patrick Roberts, and Pierre Ekwah were all fantastic, and it was one of the last times Jack Clarke dazzled before injury and form dampened his sparkle. The weaving run beating three Norwich players, the slide pass into the box for Dan Neil’s deft chip over the keeper left smiles beaming ear-to-ear. Then, not content with just the dazzling assist, he topped off the performance by winning and despatching a penalty to put the game to bed.

It was a game that made fans feel good about the season’s prospects again, and that we were back on the up having had turned the corner in our form. It was probably the last time we were a joy to watch too.