It was an historic win for Gloucestershire’s League One club as Michael Duff’s Cheltenham Town picked up a surprise three points with victory over a manager-less Sunderland AFC.
Visiting supporters were far from happy with the result, with some fans cancelling their season cards after seven years and other brandishing it the most embarrassing moment in their history.
Sunderland opened the scoring with a free kick into the top corner on the half hour mark. Pritchard converted after Matete was brought down 28 yards from the goal and set the game up for what Cheltenham feared to be a repeat of the reverse fixture and what Sunderland fans had hoped to be a turn in fortune.
Cheltenham had enjoyed a spell of possession in the build up to the goal, with Sunderland sitting back and allowing the home side to play out, even with the fair share of the ball it looked to be a game easily controlled by the visitors with the score-line at half time seen as a let off for Duff’s side.
Despite the stature of the away side, Cheltenham started to grow into the game and take back control of the fixture, this came to fruition twenty minutes into the second half when Elliot Bonds’ long range effort dipped below the bar and in. Cue wild celebrations behind the goal and somewhat annoyed away fans.
It only got worse for them as Cheltenham took control and pushed Sunderland so far back they were almost home.
As the atmosphere grew stronger and stronger, Sunderland were pulled very quickly down to earth as Alfie May fired home to put Duff’s side in the lead.
As you can expect, this didn’t go down well with the Mackems.
From out of nowhere, the fourth official put up his board to show a big green five to the ground, met with a massive roar from the away end and a massively increased heart rate from the Cheltenham faithful, we were in for a big five minutes.
Corner after corner came in, punch after punch from Owen Evans, chance after chance for the visitors. In the end, Cheltenham held on, sealing one of the most impressive results in club history and an all-time low for the Black Cats.
They say revenge is a dish best served cold, Cheltenham’s payback for a 5-0 loss earlier in the season must be tasty.
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While it’s a day for Sunderland to forget, it’s sure to live long in the memory for all home supporters, players and staff, and everyone that came for the first time because a big club was in town. Not bad for little old Cheltenham!
