Cats to the four against Trotters
SUNDERLAND secured their first top-flight win of 2010 with a 4-0 victory over Bolton Wanderers at the Stadium of Light.
The Black Cats had not tasted victory in the Premier League since the 1-0 success over Arsenal last November.
But that changed as the Wearsiders cruised to success against the Trotters.
Hat-trick hero Darren Bent will no doubt grab tomorrow's headlines, but the star of the show was Steed Malbranque.
The Frenchman pulled all the strings and set up chance after chance with some impeccable passing.
Sunderland got off to a flying start when Fraizer Campbell forced the ball in from Lorik Cana's pass after just 48 seconds.
The Trotters were restricted to half chances which either went high or wide and Sunderland looked to stamp their authority on proceedings in the opening half.
Although the hosts looked a little nervy at the back at times in the first 45 minutes.
Darren Bent could have mad it 2-0 after a quick break on 23 minutes.
Steed Malbranque found Campbell out wide on the right. The youngster held on to the ball instead of running at his man, and then delivered a delightful pass over the top to Bent.
The striker cut inside, but seemed to slip before pulling the trigger and the ball drifted wide of the upright.
And Kenwyne Jones wasn't far away with a couple of efforts from the edge of the box, as the Black Cats looked to build on their lead.
The did just that after the break, and were two goals to the good on 64 minutes.
Malbranque played the ball into Campbell, who threaded in a pass for Bent to lose his marker and fire home.
After that there was no looking back for the hosts and they were 3-0 up on 73 minutes.
Another superb ball through from Malbranque found Bent, who was pushed to the ground by Sam Ricketts.
The Bolton defender had already been shown a yellow and saw a second, quickly followed by a red as referee Steve Bennett pointed to the spot.
Up stepped Bent for his second of the evening and Sunderland's third, and it was game over.
Campbell again turned provider on 87 minutes as he pulled the ball back from the byline as Bent struck to complete his hat-trick.
With the game in time added on Campbell should have made it five but fired straight at Jussi Jaaskelainen in the away goal.
The miss mattered little to the Wearsiders though who were well worth their comprehensive win.
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Weather for Jarrow
Monday 21 May 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 6 C to 13 C
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