THE half time air was sweet perfume.

Well, that might be pushing it, but there was definitely the scent of victory at the Stadium of Light, home to Sunderland AFC.

Quinn’s Sports Bar, bedecked in red and white, attracted huge crowds of loyal fans, urging their team to cup glory.

Before kick-off, there was optimism and a sense of occasion as men wearing strips carried foaming jugs of ale to their spots and kids in replica shirts sipped pop.

There was as much support from the womenfolk of Sunderland, creating a family friendly environment for the big day at Wembley.

Anticipation and hopefulness, spurred by an early disallowed off-side goal opportunity, turned to pure, unadulterated joy as Fabio Borini put the Black Cats ahead in the tenth minute.

The place went barmy.

You would have thought they had scored the winner in the dying seconds of the match, rather than going in front early on.

Everyone was on their feet, punching the air, daring to dream.

Through the first half that confidence continued and during the break it was all smiles and back slapping.

But ten minutes into a tense second half, Yaya Toure, took the wind out of Sunderland’s sails with a peach of a goal before Samir Nasri ultimately killed off any real hopes a minute later with another world class strike.

There were a handful of die hard optimists who refused to give up supporting their team and a few lines of ‘We Love You Sunderland’ and ‘Red and White Army’ were sung, but they died out fairly quickly as the inevitable final whistle loomed ever nearer.

To add insult to injury, Gonzalez Jesus Navas put the final nail in Sunderland’s coffin in the 90th minute, leaving the room dejected and deflated.

"Gutted" and "devastated", were among the well worn phrases used by fans in the aftermath, with many paying tribute to the valiant effort put in by a side outgunned by their classier and more expensive opponents.

Others clung to the hope that Sunderland still have a chance of FA Cup success this season, being in the quarter finals.

Ten-year-old Thomas Maclaughlan said: “We had a good 45 minutes, but then it went downhill. As soon as they scored we stopped believing we could win. They have got the money to buy the players that we have not got.”