Sunderland lost the Checkatrade Trophy final to Portsmouth on Sunday.
Sunderland’s hopes of winning the Checkatrade Trophy were crushed on Sunday afternoon, as they were beaten on penalties by Portsmouth at Wembley Stadium.
The Black Cats took a break from their League One campaign to try and add some silverware to their trophy cabinet, but fell short against promotion rivals Portsmouth.
Both teams brought thousands of fans, as arguably the two biggest League One sides went head to head in a game which went the full 120 minutes.
Winger Aiden McGeady put Sunderland in front with a superb free kick, before Nathan Thompson took the game to extra time with an 82nd minute equaliser.
Pompey snatched the lead in extra with just six minutes to play as Jamal Lowe lobbed Jon McLaughlin, but there was another twist as McGeady added a second to make it 2-2 in the dying stages.
Sadly for Sunderland, there was only heartbreak from there, as Craig MacGillivray saved Lee Cattermole’s penalty in the shootout, and Ollie Hawkins stepped up to win it for Portsmouth, clinching a 5-4 win on spot kicks.
Sunderland fans travelled back up to Wearside devastated, and Jack Ross now faces a challenge in terms of picking his players up once again after such a disappointing end to yesterday’s game.
Now, Sunderland owner Stewart Donald has taken to Twitter to apologise to fans for not bringing the trophy home, but urged them to stick by the players and go again, whilst also congratulating Portsmouth on their win.
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