Duncan Watmore scored one and assisted another as The Black Cats secured their biggest ever League One win at the Stadium of Light.
New Sunderland manager Phil Parkinson has admitted that he was ‘so impressed’ with the performance of Duncan Watmore after the Black Cats thrashed Tranmere Rovers 5-0 on Tuesday night, speaking to the Northern Echo.
In his first game in charge at the Stadium of Light, Parkinson released the shackles that had been placed upon an under-performing team by Jack Ross and watched them tear ravenously into a Tranmere side who resembled a sacrificial lamb up against a pack of hungry wolves.
Chris Maguire, Lynden Gooch, Will Grigg and Luke O’Nien were all on the scoresheet but Watmore, the injury-ravaged forward making just his third appearance of the season, was the best player on the pitch.
Watmore scored one, assisted another and even won the free-kick from which Maguire found the corner to make it 2-0 in a jet-fuelled first-half.
With his pace and direct style, the 25-year-old already looks like becoming a key player in the Parkinson era with the ex-Bolton boss blown away by a forward desperate to make up for lost time.
“He’s in a good place at the moment,” said Parkinson, speaking after Sunderland’s first 5-0 win since 2007. “It’s been tough for him, I know all about his injury problems.
“But right from my first day last Thursday, I was so impressed with him as a player because he makes those runs in behind and stretches the opposition back four.
“I think that’s key. Teams want you to play in front of them, but we have to get the balance right where we’re stretching the game as well.”
Should Watmore stay fit, which is easier said than done, Sunderland will have a player capable of adding speed and cutting edge to an attack which so often failed to spark under the final few months of the Ross regime.
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