Any day for AFC Sunderland to win, score six goals and beat Manchester United would be considered a good day, and that’s exactly what they did on this day in 1926.
Dubbed a “goal fest” in the excellent book The Absolute Record by Rob Mason, Mike Gibson and Barry Jackson, Sunderland beat a host of teams by huge margins during the season to finish third.
Although Robert Kell’s side performed well in this game, the newspaper articles did not express shock to his Sunderland side. One report lamented that Sunderland “did nothing of note” throughout the first half, while also labeling the game “energetic and over-the-top”.
Furthermore, another journalist said he was “not fooled by Sunderland’s win”, which saw them play “a bit of good football” throughout.
Kyle’s side seemed to play a hard-working style of football which suited our centre-forward Dave Halliday more than our more talented players such as Bob Kelly who was said to be “completely unsuited to this type of football”.
Diligence or not, the team produced a strong performance in the second half, with Billy Clunas’ role considered a huge turning point in the game. Clunas’ powerful shot gave Sunderland the advantage in the second half, and it didn’t take long for United’s defense to collapse under Sunderland’s attack.
The first goal came from the aforementioned Halliday, who headed home after a brilliant cross from Billy Ellis found the ball in front of the forward. Bobby Gurney scored minutes later in a goal-scoring scramble and Clunas made it three in ten minutes after a handball in the United penalty area gave Sunderland a penalty.
From this point on, there were reports that it was “all Sunderland infiltration” and United seemed to be falling apart quickly; in a game deemed to be “too much effort”, injuries seemed to plague United as the game progressed.
Halliday then added three more goals to take his tally to four on the afternoon and secure a resounding win for his Sunderland side in front of a crowd of 15,385 at Roker Park.