Jack Ross delighted as Sunderland see off battling Port Vale

Posted Monday, November 12, 2018 by PA

Sunderland boss Jack Ross was proud of his players after they overcame a spirited Port Vale side to reach the FA Cup second round following a 2-1 win at Vale Park.

Early first-half strikes from George Honeyman, within 35 seconds, and Lynden Gooch set the tone for the Black Cats in Staffordshire, before Tom Pope pulled one back for Neil Aspin’s side.

But following pressure from the hosts in the second half, Ross was delighted with how his side managed to navigate their way through.

“The first half-hour was maybe not what we quite expected because we were really good and dominant,” Ross said.

“If I’m going to be hyper critical maybe, we could have got that third to finish the game off but to Vale’s credit they changed their shape with a sub and scored a good goal that galvanised them when they were very much on the ropes.

“From pitch-side, I thought it was a decent claim (the penalty appeal) but I don’t always get it right from pitch-side. On first shout I wouldn’t have been surprised.

“From 30 minutes to 70 minutes, it was proper cup-tie football. We had to defend a lot of balls into the box and the players deserve a lot of credit for dealing with them.

“From 70 minutes, we got a grip on the game again and maybe could have scored again. We looked reasonably comfortable and it is another learning experience for us.

“On reflection is it a good performance in difficult circumstances.”

Sunderland led within 35 seconds when Honeyman profited after good link-up play from Jerome Sinclair and Chris Maguire to bend the Black Cats into the lead, before American Gooch neatly turned and finished from the edge of the area in the 19th minute.

Vale skipper Pope pulled one back after 35 minutes, curling beyond Jon McLaughlin.

And in the second half, Vale pushed for an equaliser with Ben Whitfield strike into the side-netting and a penalty decision waved away by referee Anthony Backhouse after Luke Hannant was brought down by Jack Baldwin. Pope also saw an effort thwarted by Reece James.

Vale boss Aspin was proud of his side but was frustrated at the penalty decision.

He said: “We should have had a penalty and I’ve had words with the referee, which if we’d have got it, at 2-2 I’d have fancied us to be the winners.

“I’m really pleased with the players’ efforts as it’s very difficult when you have such a bad start.

“We were on live TV on quite a big stage today, but the players recovered well and once we got the goal, it gave the players the lift that they needed.

“The players did themselves proud today, they gave 100 per cent and that’s all I can ask.”