ITHICS Fanzine: Onwards & Upwards - Sunderland needed a bloody miracle and they duly delivered!

Well, well, well - a miracle you said? They don’t get much more miraculous than a 4-1 away Good Friday win. Good Friday, the day should be renamed ‘Most Excellent Friday’ - our most emphatic result since beating Norwich 3-1 at Carrow Road in August when it looked like we could walk this league.

I’m ashamed to say that the first I heard of the result was from a tweet I received from a Wolves-supporting friend who was getting nervous should they need to win the last game of the season to get promoted.

As with all things Sunderland at the moment, the question is, can we back this up with a result against Sheffield Wednesday on Easter Monday?

Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

T.S. Eliot said that April was the cruelest month, but as far as Sunderland fans are concerned it has been the best of months in terms of results. Think of all those relegation reprieves on the back of wins against the likes of Chelsea (2014 & 2016), Man Utd, (2014), Everton (2016).

Are we really seeing the dawn of another escape act?

I said last week that we needed a miracle, and last night’s result was certainly extraordinary.

Even Fletcher scored and hit the post. When Derby clawed a goal back just before half time, we reduced the pressure on us by extending our lead through McGeedy’s penalty just after the break. But you know things are really crazy when John O’ Shea gets on the score sheet. He hasn’t scored since Chelsea beat us 4-3 in a crazy game at the SOL in December 2013.

Sheffield Wednesday will be no more of a threat than Derby posed, it just depends which Sunderland side turn out and whether Chris Coleman can get into the team’s heads that they can do it.

Then, perhaps the depressing catalogue of neglect and decline can be arrested.