TO celebrate Sunderland's return to the Premiership, thousands of red and white balloons were released from a giant football in the centre-circle ahead of Saturday's season opener against Charlton.

Ninety minutes later, the choice of celebratory act appeared to be a fitting one.

If balloons provide proof of anything, it is that what goes up, must also come down.

Football does not follow the rules of physics so rigidly but, after a 3-1 defeat at the Stadium of Light, the hopes and dreams of Sunderland's fans were in a similar state to the tattered remains of the balloons that had sailed so high earlier - deflated.

As Mick McCarthy quite rightly pointed out in his post-match press conference, there are still 37 games to go and an awful lot can happen between now and May.

But with the euphoria of last season's Championship success fading fast, Saturday's defeat provided a harsh reality check for those who viewed Premiership survival as a given.

This season will be a slog and, like it or not, there will be plenty more days like this. The true test will be how Sunderland's players react to such a bitter setback. With no place to hide in the top-flight, the answer will come at Anfield next weekend.

At least they will have a full complement of travelling fans to roar them on. In all of the dissection that has followed Saturday's defeat, the attendance of 34,446 has been somewhat overlooked.

If you had picked up any national newspaper or listened to any national TV or radio report in the build-up to the Premiership campaign, you would have heard Sunderland's support being described as the club's "valuable 12th man".

Those inside the Stadium of Light at the weekend certainly did everything they could to ensure a winning start.

Sunderland were roared onto the field before kick-off, urged into action after falling behind and cheered to the rafters after hauling themselves level shortly before half-time.

But their impact was restricted by the continued absence of the club's stay-away fans.

Charlton might not be one of the Premiership's more glamorous clubs, but the fact that only 209 more people turned out to see them than watched the visit of Reading last season hardly bodes well for the rest of the campaign.

Those who opted for some Saturday shopping missed a whole-hearted Sunderland display that underlined the squad's battling qualities, but also highlighted some of the areas in which the Black Cats remain weak.

The home side's lack of pace at the back was exposed ruthlessly by the impressive Darren Bent, a striker who could have moved to Wearside this season had McCarthy been in a position to match Charlton's bid of £2.5m.

He wasn't, Bent duly arrived at the Valley and, just 11 minutes into the season, the England Under-21 international was underlining his class.

By the time Bent drove the ball past an exposed Kelvin Davis, the early afternoon sunshine had already given way to some unseasonal heavy rain. After watching his defence caught horribly square, it is safe to assume McCarthy's mood was as grey as the skies.

It threatened to get worse as Charlton dominated the opening half-an-hour.

Julio Arca's dribbles out of defence, so eye-catching in the Championship, looked a little nave at the higher level. Carl Robinson, who had protected his back four to such great effect last season, found himself bypassed by the wit and movement of the industrious Danny Murphy and the inventive Alexei Smertin.

But, after weathering the storm in a metaphorical as well as a meteorological sense, Sunderland suddenly found themselves back on level terms.

Andy Gray's leveller was hardly picture perfect but, as he wheeled away in delight, the striker broke a 411-minute Premiership scoring duck that had spanned the space of three seasons.

Suddenly, Sunderland attacked with more vigour and, when Darren Ambrose was given his marching orders ten minutes after the break, the scene seemed set for a memorable win.

Or at least it did for nine minutes.

Murphy's exquisite free-kick shattered Sunderland's dreams, before Bent underlined Charlton's continued superiority with his second goal of the game in stoppage time.

The result means that nobody can be under any illusions about the difficulty of the task that lies ahead.

There will have to be some hard work if balloons are still to be on the agenda when Arsenal visit Wearside for the final home game of the season on April 29.

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