A controversial late penalty from Kevin Phillips kept Sunderland firmly on
course for the First Division championship.
The striker went down under a challenge from City goalkeeper Steve Phillips
after 89 minutes and got up to confidently net from the spot.
It spelt heartbreak for the young goalkeeper, whose side had fought back from
being outplayed in the opening half to contribute fully to a blood and thunder
contest.
City chairman Scott Davidson was so incensed by the penalty verdict that he
rushed onto the pitch after the game to remonstrate with referee Robert Styles.
Davidson will be reported to the Football Association for his conduct, but
would have had the sympathy of home fans in the 15,000 crowd.
Struggling City had looked likely to be swept aside in the opening 20 minutes
as Sunderland produced a string of quick, incisive moves.
But they couldn't find the finishing touch and goalkeeper Phillips did well to
keep out shots from Allan Johnston and Nicky Summerbee.
Sunderland goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen made his first contribution by diving
bravely to thwart Steve Torpey in the 13th minute.
And after the break Sorensen was the busier goalkeeper as he dived to keep out
a low shot from Ade Akinbiyi and then showed remarkable reflexes to block a
Brian Tinnion volley.
City had dug deep to bridge the gap in quality between the teams, illustrated
by a 36-point gap between them in the First Division table.
But all their hard work was wasted when Phillips misjudged a rush from his
line with a minute left and fouled his namesake as the Sunderland striker was
moving away from goal.
City were convinced Phillips got the ball before the man, but referee Styles
saw it otherwise.
Sunderland boss Peter Reid breathed a sigh of relief as it looked as though
all his side's early dominance would count for nothing.
City had been forced to reshuffle their defence after 32 minutes when
left-back Mickey Bell limped off with a recurrence of a knee injury and
Hungarian international centre-back Bilmos Sebok made his debut as a
substitute.
It was a tough first assignment for the £400,000 signing from Ujpest Dosza as
Niall Quinn was dominating in the air and causing havoc with his flick-ons.
Teams:
Bristol City: Phillips, Brennan, Bell (Sebok 32), Locke, Shail,
Carey, Murray, Tistimetanu, Akinbiyi, Torpey (Andersen 81),Tinnion.
Subs Not Used: Brown.
Booked: Torpey.
Sunderland: Sorensen, Makin, Gray, Ball, Melville, Butler,
Summerbee, Clark, Quinn (Dichio 77), Phillips, Johnston.
Subs Not Used: Bridges, Craddock.
Booked: Gray, Ball, Clark.
Goals: Phillips 89 pen.
Att: 15,736
Ref: R Styles (Waterlooville).
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