Sunderland’s Stewart taps in for playoff lead against Sheffield Wednesday

Sunderland’s former owner Sir Bob Murray once likened the team’s home to a fabulous theatre, filled with wonderful audiences who were consistently let down by some awful actors.

Alex Neil’s players are striving to prove exceptions to that rule and did not disappoint a crowd of 44,742 at the Stadium of Light. It was a record attendance for an English Football League playoff semi-final and the majority present delighted in watching Ross Stewart give Sunderland a slender advantage ahead of Monday night’s second leg in South Yorkshire.

Granted, after a slow start, they should have extended their lead during a much improved second half but much as Sheffield Wednesday harbour genuine hope of turning the tie round, Neil has tightened the Wearsiders’ defence appreciably in recent weeks. Significantly Anthony Patterson, his goalkeeper, was not required to make a single serious save.

Two hours before kick-off the amount of traffic slowing to a crawl on the main approach roads to the stadium felt reminiscent of the days when Sunderland were a Premier League club. By the time the game actually got under way, the ground had filled to near capacity and the atmosphere felt electric.

As hope and fear collided in the minds of supporters of two of England’s dozier sleeping giants no one could be quite sure whether this sense of occasion would shock the players into life or simply leave them suffocated by the pressure of endeavouring to escape the third tier.

Sunderland had lost only once in the 15 games since Neil succeeded the sacked Lee Johnson, winning eight times, but they retain a certain mental fragility of the sort which quite possibly dictates it was for the best when the Stadium of Light board ended a brief dalliance with the