FINLAY’S REPORT: Efficient Sunderland look unstoppable at present & are scoring confident goals!

Four successive wins in the league is something for the team to be proud of after our latest 3-0 victory over Southend United at home on Saturday.

As the saying goes, ‘never change a winning side’ and that is what Jack Ross did as he kept with the same team that won 1-0 against Doncaster Rovers on Tuesday night at the Keepmoat Stadium. There were a few switches on the bench as Josh Maja and Bryan Oviedo came back into the squad after an injury and a suspension respectively, and this completed a strong bench with McGeady and O’Nien keeping their spots in the dugout.

We began the game on the front foot with Jerome Sinclair’s header somehow being kept out by the Southend United goalkeeper.

The match stopped when their left-back crawled off the side of the pitch and he had to be treated for a lengthy amount of time. When play resumed, it was apparent that the visitors weren’t allowing us to get into the same rhythm that we were in on Tuesday night.

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This didn’t matter when we took the lead through George Honeyman, though.

The ball was crossed into the area by Gooch from the right and the captain’s header slowly travelled past the opposition goalkeeper. Yet again, the gaffer knew that if we could keep another clean sheet, then we would take all three points on a fourth successive occasion.

With teams surrounding us winning such as Barnsley, Peterborough and Coventry, this was becoming a more important win if we could claw all three points. Southend were beginning to liven up as their opportunities were troubling Jon McLaughlin more and more.

Chris Maguire won League One’s goal of the month for September 2018 in the week, and he may well just win the competition again when the King produced a spectacular strike from around 30 yards out into the top left-hand corner to make it Sunderland 2-0 Southend.

The first substitute for the hosts was made when Aiden McGeady came on to the pitch for Dylan McGeouch. Honeyman moved into central midfield and McGeady played the remainder of the game on the wing. Moments later, Jack Ross switched Josh Maja for Jerome Sinclair up front. It was a straight swap and some fresh legs up top.

The final sub was made by the boss when he brought on Luke O’Nien for Lynden Gooch, who had picked up a knock meaning Jack Ross didn’t want to risk the winger any longer.

In the latter stages of the match, Aiden McGeady’s left footed shot flew past the Southend United goalkeeper to seal the fourth successive win in League One. The score stayed that way so we go into next weekend’s away trip to Plymouth Argyle on the back of five consecutive wins in all competitions.

Ha’way the Lads!

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