THE VERDICT of the top brass at the Stadium of Light was unanimous. Lady luck, that most precious commodity in any walk of life, is at last once again smiling on Sunderland.

Manager Mick McCarthy, who as one of Irish stock should know a thing or two about luck, was quick to acknowledge the sudden change in the Black Cats' fortunes after Marcus Stewart sealed a fourth successive victory with a stoppage-time penalty.

Amid scenes of delirium, Stewart celebrated his fourth goal in each of those successes after a convincingly converted spot-kick which Palace boss Steve Kember argued should never have been awarded.

Midfielder Shaun Derry was adjudged to have handled by referee Graham Salisbury, but Kember maintained it was accidental and felt doubly aggrieved after claiming Sunderland centre-back Gary Breen had confessed to a similar offence at the other end.

"It's one rule for one and one for another,'' complained Kember. "Breen admitted it afterwards as well.

"The referee said he saw that as an accident. So how could see the one at our end as intentional? Shaun said the ball hit his head and glanced off his arm.''

Not surprisingly, a jubilant McCarthy saw it differently to his opposite number.

"It was a penalty and it came because the lads put them under pressure,'' said McCarthy, who en route to relegation last season oversaw nine consecutive defeats in a 15-game club record League losing run, which was extended to 17 when his side were beaten in their opening Division One encounters this term.

But the Black Cats' boss revealed that both he and right-hand man Ian Evans, a former Wales and Palace defender, feel the gods are finally beginning to favour them.

"Our luck has changed and Taff made the point that last year, this probably wouldn't have happened,'' said McCarthy, whose side fleetingly appeared to have thrown victory away moments before Stewart's clincher, when Andy Johnson broke clear to grab a shock equaliser for Palace.

Having already been forced into a reshuffle before the interval when skipper Jason McAteer suffered a recurrence of hamstring trouble on his return from a five-week lay-off, McCarthy had to tinker again at half-time because of an injury to right-back Darren Williams.

Perversely, it proved another lucky break for McCarthy, who brought on winger John Oster on the right and switched the versatile Colin Healy, McAteer's replacement in midfield, to full-back.

Welsh international Oster, who McCarthy freely admitted had been unfortunate to lose his place in making way for Thomas Butler's first start this season, gave Sunderland greater pace and urgency.

After a turgid first half in which a goal at either end never really looked likely, with play too often bogged down in a congested midfield,

Sunderland struck within a minute of the restart.

Striker Kevin Kyle's honest endeavour was rewarded as he controlled Breen's long ball on the edge of the area and turned to fire past Palace goalkeeper Cedric Berthelin for his first-ever Sunderland League goal in 32 appearances.

McCarthy said: "I said at half-time, let's have a scrap, get crosses in, put the ball in the box and get the crowd lifted. It worked - but I didn't think it would work as quickly as it did.

"The crowd were patient, but the ones who left before the end might have been choking on their fish and chips.''

Long before the late drama unfolded, Oster might have put the game beyond Palace when his fierce close-range effort was beaten out by Berthelin.

He also conjured a telling cross which was met by the head of Kyle but saved by the keeper just before Stewart settled the issue.

McCarthy said: "John Oster was excellent. One or two people might have wondered why he wasn't playing because he had done very well, and I think he thought that himself.

"Tommy Butler was terrific for the Irish Under-21s and played on the left side in the reserves, and I thought he was better-suited to the left than John.

"But John came on and rubbed my nose in it and I don't mind that - I told him to do that. It was a great performance."

Result: Sunderland 2, Crystal Palace 1.

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