JUST when Sunderland thought their calamitous season might be on the verge of a seismic shift towards a brighter future, Phil Babb's own goal brought their fledgling revival crashing to a halt.
Howard Wilkinson was just ten minutes away from his first victory as Sunderland manager when Babb, who also put through his own net for the Republic of Ireland in Russia last month, inadvertently headed past Jurgen Macho.
It was a goal that the Black Cats scarcely looked like conceding, but an error by Kevin Kilbane deep inside his own penalty box triggered a chain of events that ended in disaster.
Kilbane's mishit clearance was nodded goalwards by Mike Whitlow, and as Michael Ricketts lay in wait, Babb flicked the ball beyond the stranded Macho.
While Sunderland can hardly claim to have enjoyed complete dominance over Bolton Wanderers, they looked comfortable from the moment Michael Gray opened the scoring in first-half injury time.
See Tuesdays 'The Northern Echo' for the full match report
Bolton Wanderers 1 - 1 Sunderland
Read more about Sunderland here.
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