On This Day (17 May 2004): McCarthy ‘empty, hollow and distraught’ after playoff defeat!
Twenty one years ago, the Sunderland faithful were experiencing contrasting emotions to the ones being felt right now after our victory over Coventry City in the playoffs.
The 2003/2004 side had finished third in Division One and went into the playoffs as slight favourites against Iain Dowie’s Crystal Palace — who had the league’s top scorer in Andy Johnson in their ranks.
After a 3-2 defeat at Selhurst Park, we had to overcome the deficit at the Stadium of Light to keep our promotion hopes alive, and with full expectation that we would come out of the blocks firing, there was great concern as Palace could’ve been out of sight within the first fifteen minutes of the second leg.
First, an mis-hit shot from Michael Hughes fell invitingly at the feet of Julian Gray five yards out, but Sunderland keeper Mart Poom came to the rescue by spreading himself well to block the shot.
We then had to endure an even closer scare when a Danny Granville cross found the head of Aki Riihilahti and his effort beat Poom and came back off the post, only for Gray to lash the rebound over.
Thankfully, we got the rub of the green and scored two quickfire goals just before half time to give us a 4-3 lead on aggregate.
Jason McAteer put in a hopeful cross and Kevin Kyle took it brilliantly on his chest before lashing it low past Nico Vaesen, before Marcus Stewart scored a second three minutes later as he powered a header past Vaesen after another McAteer cross.
Despite being down to ten men after the influential Gray was sent off, the second half was a tense affair as Palace steadily increased the pressure, which finally told just before the end as in injury time Poom misjudged a corner and Darren Powell crashed a header in off the bar.
Extra time loomed and Sunderland pushed on with the numerical advantage, with Carl Robinson shooting over and Kyle heading straight at Vaesen, but despite the pressure, no goal was forthcoming.
Mick McCarthy looked understandably stressed as John Oster and McAteer both missed penalties for Sunderland but Palace twice blew the chance to win it when Poom saved from Shaun Derry and Wayne Routledge.
However, in what became an unforgettable moment for all the wrong reasons, Jeff Whitley’s attempt to outsmart Vaesen backfired as the keeper saved and Michael Hughes stroked home the winner.
McCarthy was left bereft and bemused as he spoke to the media after the game, as the favourites crashed out to a Palace team who could scarcely believe they’d overcome the Irishman’s team at the Stadium of Light.
It appeared that Sunderland bottled the hurt of this season as we went on to top the league the following season, during an extraordinary campaign in which the team overcame their financial obstacles to perform to an extremely high level.
