On This Day (26th December 1950): Sunderland make it six from six over the festive period!

Yesterday at 01:00 AM

A Boxing Day trip to Old Trafford proved memorable for the Lads as they returned from Lancashire with another impressive victory!

After beating Manchester United 2-1 at Roker Park on Christmas Day, Sunderland were the only team to make it six wins from six over the festive period after winning the return fixture at Old Trafford 5-3.

This run was a notable outlier, given the team's performances up to this point, as before our win on Christmas Day, we'd only won one of our previous eleven games in the league.

In addition, Sir Matt Busby's Manchester United were particularly formidable at home, where they'd only conceded seven goals all season before this game.

Bill Murray's men largely had sharpshooter Ivor Broadis to thank after he scored a first half hat trick, as in what was a reshuffled front line, Broadis came up trumps as Trevor Ford and Len Shackleton were absent for the game in Manchester.

The game started in frenetic fashion, as with fans still making their way into the ground, John Aston scored for the home side with only two minutes on the clock, making it two goals in two games in two days for the England international!

Aston's goal was cancelled out fairly swiftly as Billy Bingham equalised within a minute, and this appeared to give Sunderland a bit of momentum, as with a half hour on the clock, Broadis got a double of his own, scoring twice in the space of two minutes.

The Broadis double appeared to reignite a sleepy Manchester United, and Tommy Bogan pulled one back to make it 3-2 on the 35th minute.

However, this wasn't the end of the excitement in the first half, as in remarkable fashion, Broadis completed his fourteen-minute hat trick just before half time, to make it 4-2 to the away side.

According to reports, the second half was played at a markedly lower tempo- perhaps not surprising, given how frantic the first half was, and Broadis added an assist to his hat trick with a backheel into the path of Tommy Wright to make it 5-2.

Sunderland goalkeeper Johnny Mapson had his time in the limelight when he saved a penalty from Jack Rowley before Bogan scored a goal with four minutes left on the clock, albeit too late to have any impact on the result.

In a season during which the Lads weren't exactly pulling up any trees, this double win over United, coupled with our victory over Liverpool on 23 December, represented the most positive time of Sunderland's season.

We ultimately finished in twelfth position, which was a disappointing outcome given the team of stars we'd built at the time.