Steve Bruce and Brian Laws have history. Fellow Geordies, they played for the famous Wallsend Boys Club and Sunderland's manager harbours acute memories of the day he, Laws and Peter Beardsley caught a bus to Burnley for trials at Turf Moor.
While the then right-back found himself signed up on the spot, Bruce and Beardsley headed back across the Pennines as rejects. More than three decades on, it was Laws's turn to feel a failure yesterday as he stood helplessly in the technical area, watching his Burnley side's hopes of retaining Premier League status ebb further away.
Sincere as a post match embrace from an old friend undoubtedly was, Bruce's bear hug will have been scant consolation to a man whose already hazy future appeared further clouded by goals from the improving Fraizer Campbell and the simply irrepressible Darren Bent. Laws's sole consolation is that if Sunderland had not switched off for protracted periods of the second half, thereby permitting Steven Thompson to eventually reduce the deficit, it could have been infinitely worse.
Burnley's manager cursed long and hard when David Nugent, his key striker, failed a fitness test on a hamstring injury but he is not yet resigned to the Championship. "Our hopes of staying up are slim," said Laws. "But we've still got a chance, we've got three games left, there's nine points to play for. We might get all nine."
Considering Liverpool, Birmingham and Tottenham lie in wait and that Laws – whose side sit second bottom, four points adrift of safety – has won just two of his 16 games in charge since succeeding Owen Coyle that seems unlikely.
No matter. "My players have still got a lot of self belief," he countered, his voice turning hoarse with emotion. "People have been writing us off for months but survival is still possible and we're going to go for it. We're not going to lie down, we'll give it everything. We're still in there."
Kieran Richardson was again deployed at left-back by Bruce but he hankers after a central midfield berth and it was after drifting into this department that a player still harbouring England ambitions won the key tackle which prefaced the first goal.
Having impressively seized possession from Tyrone Mears, Richardson's delivery reached Alan Hutton via Bent. All that remained was for the excellent Hutton to dispatch a cross stabbed beyond Brian Jensen's reach by the on-rushing Campbell. Utter despondency was writ large across Laws's face.
Not that Campbell's opener came as a shock. Jensen had earlier done well to repel a John Mensah header following Jordan Henderson's cross before looking relieved as Kenwyne Jones hit a post after connecting with Richardson's corner. Even worse, Burnley were coming off consistently second best against Sunderland's youthfully dynamic central midfield combination of Henderson and David Meyler.
Before kick-off Laws warned his team Bent was "on fire" but Burnley's defence lost the would-be England striker as Campbell met Meyler's splendid long pass to the back post and headed down for Bent to tap the ball home from close range. It was his 23rd Premier League goal of the season. Surely it is time Fabio Capello took the hint. "We couldn't cope with Jones and Bent," conceded Laws. "They're quality and they pushed us far too deep."
Beneath Wearside's weak April sunshine, Burnley's hopes of a top flight future were fading away in much the same meek and mild manner they had allowed their protests about that second goal possibly being a shade offside to be swiftly extinguished. "Bent's strike was a killer. It was a soul destroyer," lamented Laws. "And I'm told it was marginally offside."
At least Robbie Blake did not abandon hope. The gifted forward had been on the pitch for less than a minute after stepping off the substitutes' bench when his incisive pass played in the negligently marked Thompson whose low shot from the edge of the area proved far too good for a hitherto under-employed Craig Gordon.
After barely conjuring a chance all afternoon Burnley had left it until the 82nd minute to take advantage of a Sunderland defence who appeared to be allowing their minds to wander towards summer holiday plans.
When he lies awake in the small hours, tossing, turning and agonising over ifs, buts and might have beens, Laws may wonder whether he should have introduced Blake's invention earlier.
THE FANS' PLAYER RATINGS AND VERDICT
PHIL WILSON, Observer reader It was comfortable at 2-0 but some sloppy defending let them back into it and it was a nervy finish. We ran the game for the most part but couldn't put the chances away. We've passed the 40-point mark now and as a Sunderland fan I'm looking forward to some mid-table obscurity. We usually go right to the last game so I welcome these meaningless end‑of-season matches. Darren Bent scored again but also missed a lot of chances. I think he should be in the England squad, but I wouldn't pin my hopes for the World Cup on him. But he's done well for us and I'm not going to knock him.
The fan's player ratings Gordon 6; Hutton 8, Turner 7, Mensah 6 (Ferdinand ht 6), Richardson 8; Campbell 7, Henderson 7, Meyler 6 (Zenden 88 n/a), Malbranque 9 ; Jones 6, Bent 6 (Benjani 90 n/a)
JAMIE SMITH FansOnline.net/burnley We were pretty poor for most of the game. I looked at their midfield and thought that we might get plenty of the ball, but it didn't work out like that. We gave away possession too easily and the defending was really sloppy, as it has been all season. I though we had to win today to have any chance of staying up and I can see us losing all three of our final matches . Laws is going to bring us down and I'm not sure if he is the man to take us back. My feelings are that he should never have been given the job in the first place and we should get someone else in now to have a look at the squad before the summer.
The fan's player ratings Jensen 5; Mears 4, Cort 4,Duff 5, Fox 4; Alexander 4; Eagles 3, Elliott 4; Cork 5 (Blake 81 7), Paterson 4 (Thompson ht 6); Fletcher 4
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