ON A weekend when auditions were being held at St James' Park for Big Brother VII, votes of a different kind were made at the Stadium of Light as large pockets of supporters demanded the eviction of chairman Bob Murray.

But those disgruntled fans who chose to turn their focus away from the game had something else to think about by full-time when the Wearside faithful celebrated a point as if relegation had been avoided.

That remains highly unlikely, with 16 points still separating them from safety, but Sunderland's endeavour against a Tottenham team gunning for a top four finish will reassure manager Mick McCarthy that his players are still pulling in the right direction for him.

The Black Cats would probably have taken the lead in the opening half had they had a striker at the top of his game and not the confidence-drained Jon Stead, who has now gone 1,331 Premiership minutes without scoring in a red and white shirt.

Instead, when promising play was met with chants of 'Murray out' from the vociferous south-west corner, Tottenham broke and took the lead through the predatory Robbie Keane seven minutes before half-time.

That could have seen Sunderland fold. But, with a little help from Tottenham's failure to perform to their highest standard, the home side kept plugging away until the end and were rewarded a minute from time.

Substitute Daryl Murphy, a £100,000 signing from Irish side Waterford, rounded right-back Paul Stalteri before neatly side-footing into the far corner of England goalkeeper Paul Robinson's net.

That sent the crowd into delirium and, although Sunderland's three-year wait for a Premiership home win goes on, McCarthy was able to savour only his tenth top-flight point from a possible 102 since taking over in March 2003.

It helped to deflect the attention in the final minutes away from the supporters who had clearly chosen yesterday as the day to air their feelings towards Murray.

Changes did have to be made to the personnel on the field.

As well as the enforced changes to the Sunderland starting line-up - through the suspensions of Steve Caldwell, Stephen Wright and Dean Whitehead, there was also the late withdrawal of full-back George McCartney.

McCartney only returned from a long lay-off a week earlier and there was a decision taken that he should not be risked yesterday after feeling his hip in training.

Justin Hoyte filled the breach on the left of the defence.

The unavailability of Whitehead, who has scored four from midfield this season, did give Tommy Miller the chance to play in the favoured attacking midfield role that McCarthy has only afforded to him on a couple of occasions this season.

In Tottenham's case, despite McCarthy's ironic fears, Glenn Hoddle did not pull on a white shirt but Egyptian striker Mido, after his African Nations Cup feud with the Egypt coach, was on Wearside and took his place on the bench.

And with only a few minutes gone, Mido was very nearly brought on early when Jermain Defoe received treatment on the sidelines after feeling the full force of Gary Breen's tackle from behind.

The controversial North African warmed up to a hero's welcome from the visiting fans and the light jog he participated in down the touchline summed up the pace of an extremely subdued opening 20 minutes.

There was very little between the two sides. It certainly wasn't clear which team was propping up the Premiership, nor which of the two looked a good bet for a Champions League spot.

And it was Sunderland, whose confidence grew the longer Tottenham failed to pose an attacking threat, who recorded the first meaningful effort and that did not arrive until the 21st minute.

Miller, keen to make an impression having been axed from the defeat at West Ham, found himself allowed far too much space in the Tottenham half to run into.

The former Hartlepool midfielder, with few options available to him, struck a low shot from distance into the arms of Robinson.

That handed Sunderland the initiative as Tottenham struggled to find the sort of form that has led to them climbing up to fourth.

Julio Arca headed over from a Liam Lawrence centre and Stead, after Miller picked him out on the right, did well to cut inside full-back Stalteri but found his shooting boots had evaded him again as his effort flew harmlessly wide.

The timing of the calls for chairman Murray to go was unfair on the Sunderland players who had took marginal control of a pretty lacklustre game.

And, after Lawrence had a shot stopped and given the circumstances in the stands, it was not surprising to see Tottenham suddenly emerge as a force in the Sunderland half of the field.

In the space of two minutes they had three fantastic opportunities to break the deadlock.

In quick succession Keane shot straight at Kelvin Davis and winger Aaron Lennon danced inside from the left before forcing the Sunderland keeper into a fine save low to his right.

Lennon and Keane combined shortly after when the midfielder's precise chip over the top was chested down by the Irish striker before he shot into the side-netting.

The stuffing had been completely knocked out of Sunderland and Tottenham capitalised on the home side's deterioration to score the crucial first goal seven minutes before the interval.

Geordie Michael Carrick exploited huge gaps in the defence by finding Defoe unmarked and possibly offside on the right flank.

The England forward's quick feet took the ball under his control before playing a fine cross into the six yards box, which Keane duly applied the finish to with Breen stranded.

Trailing at half-time was harsh on Sunderland but also a reflection of the difference in quality in their respective final thirds.

Although Keane and Defoe were never outstanding there was an expectation of goals every time Tottenham attacked - the same is certainly not the case when Sunderland venture forward.

Stead went close to creating the equaliser just after the hour. He created space for himself down the left, took his time before his low cross rolled beyond Robinson and Lawrence, much to his annoyance.

As has been the case for much of the campaign, Sunderland were never outplayed and were unfortunate not to come away with more than a point.

Substitute Daryl Murphy's first touch, a header, was thwarted by Robinson but he was not to be outdone. He finished in style by rounding Stalteri a minute from time to secure the draw.

Jermaine Jenas did blaze over late on which could have snatched it but Sunderland held on.

Result: Sunderland 1, Tottenham Hotspur 1.

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