Thanks to a late goal from Kevin Kyle, Sunderland advanced into the second round of the Carling Cup. This was one of those matches where Mansfield could and should have won but they missed out right at the death. The evening’s festivities started when Marcus Stewart played Piper, who was at Mansfield on loan, through on goal, however Piper shot wide of the post.
Ten minutes gone and Sunderland had another great chance to score when Stewart’s effort skimmed the post after good running work from Tore Andre Flo. However, The Stags began to gain confidence as they saw Sunderland’s inability to put away chances and Wayne Corden hit a superb free-kick from 25 yards which Mart Poom did very well to keep out. However things got worse for the Stags as four minutes after the free-kick, Dave Artell glanced the ball into his own net from a Sunderland corner.
This goal, was typical of Mansfield’s last season, in that half the time they were their own worst downfall. However, the Stags weren’t going to throw the match away and from then on, it was all Mansfield Town. Dimech had a couple of great chances which he was unlucky with, especially when Mendes ran from the half way line but lost his footing near the goal and could only muster a shot which went straight into Poom’s arms.
Half Time Score - ** Stags 0-1 Black Cats **
After the half time interval, The Stags stepped up the heat on a weary Sunderland side. Sunderland Fan Jamie Clarke, who was playing against his favourite club missed a sitter at the back post which should have made it 1-1 and also Lee Williamson had a shot defected wide of the goal.
The game was entertaining and a breath of fresh air from Mansfield’s point of view, however Sunderland were reeling. Piper was a real danger down the right for the Stags on many occasions but all the chances ended up the same result, a failure. The Stags battled hard and clearly wanted to win, their hard work paid off two minutes from normal time when
Kevin Kyle miss-hit a shot and put it past his own keeper, much to the delight of the Mansfield Town fans!
However the same striker who gave Mansfield life, took it away in injury time when Kyle scored his first goal for Sunderland since against Arsenal last November.