Accrington boss John Coleman admits Sunderland 'battered' his side for long spells - but insists his side deserved their second half comeback and could have scored more goals. The Black Cats threw away a lead to end up losing 2-1 against the League One side at the Crown Ground yesterday, in a game they should have won at a canter after creating a hatful of chances.
But a combination of wasteful finishing and an inspired performance by Accrington's on-loan Burnley goalkeeper Lukas Jensen kept the hosts in the game, and set the stage for an unlikely turnaround. Sunderland should have put the game to bed long before Ross Stewart gave them the lead from the penalty spot on the stroke of half-time, but their narrow one-goal lead was cancelled out when a mistake saw them concede a penalty which was converted by Sean McConville just after the hour, and then sloppy defending allowed sub Korede Adedoyin to force the ball home from close range 15 minutes from time.
Asked what he had learned from the game, Coleman said: "I learned that we can't play like we did between 15mins and 45mins, or we won't have the luck that we had in front of goal. Our goalkeeper has made some unbelievable saves.
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"They squandered a couple of opportunities but they ran all over us, we couldn't get the ball off them for big parts, and if someone had told me that that wouldn't carry on in the second half I would have been delighted because our players would have improved their game - and they did improve their game. They defended better, they handled the ball better, and they made themselves back to what they were in the first 15 minutes.
"For the first 15 minutes at the start of the game we were excellent. Coyley [Liam Coyle] was jumping all over them, taking the ball off them for fun, but then they got a foothold in the game and battered us. In the second half it was a lot more even. They didn't threaten us like they had in the first half and we gained the upper hand and could have scored more."
And of Adedoyin, he added: "He took his goal well, he should have scored another one, and everyone tells me he should have had a penalty. We looked more of a threat in the second half."
Sunderland still have one more pre-season friendly remaining, at Hartlepool United tomorrow night. Alex Neil's side then kick-off their Championship campaign against Coventry City in front of the Sky Sports TV cameras at the Stadium of Light next Sunday lunchtime.
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