On This Day (2nd January 2010): Campbell double sends Sunderland into the FA Cup fourth round!

01/02/2025 01:00 AM

The former Manchester United striker took centre stage as Steve Bruce's men booked their place in the next stage of the competition with a comfortable home win

8,000 Barrow fans took over the South Stand, bringing much colour and a lively atmosphere to the Stadium of Light for this FA Cup third round clash. The Blue Square Premier outfit arrived on Wearside knowing that despite the odds being firmly stacked against them, there would be opportunities to attack a vulnerable and depleted home side.

Steve Bruce's men were struggling in the Premier League and were in the midst of a rotten run of form, during which they couldn't pick up a win for love nor money.

Bruce certainly was not helped by the fact that his team was severely depleted, with injuries to the likes of Kenwyne Jones, Kieran Richardson, John Mensah, Michael Turner and Craig Gordon, with Lorik Cana having to play in defence.

Such was the extent of the injury crisis, Bruce was able to give debuts to Michael Liddle and Ryan Noble.

To their credit, Barrow really chased the game in the early stages, with Marc Goodfellow's effort blocked by David Meyler in the third minute.

Andrew Bond skidded a shot into Marton Fulop's arms and the visitors came even closer in the ninth minute, when captain Phil Bolland hammered a thirty-yard free kick which Fulop tipped wide.

This was about as good as it got for the non-league side and from that point onwards, we showed our superior quality and started to slowly dominate.

In the seventeenth minute, we scored the opening goal, which involved lovely build-up play from George McCartney and Fraizer Campbell.

Campbell's clever flick set up Steed Malbranque to fire the Black Cats ahead, with a low shot into the corner.

Despite it only being an FA Cup game, the relief and joy etched on Malbranque's face was that of a man who knew he really should've scored more goals for the club following his arrival from Tottenham in 2008.

Campbell was integral to everything positive that Sunderland did in this game, and it was his quickfire double after the break that put the game out of reach for the visitors.

The second goal arrived in the 52nd minute, when Daryl Murphy swung in a free-kick from the left and Campbell directed a header past into the bottom corner. We then went further ahead on fifty eight minutes when Campbell nodded in Phil Bardsley's cross from the right.

We dominated the rest of the half and the difference in fitness levels was certainly noticeable the longer the game went on.

Barrow had their goalkeeper Tim Deasy to thank, as he did well to keep the score at 3-0 by making good saves from Darren Bent, Meyler and substitute Noble.

This was an important day for Campbell, a big-money signing from Manchester United the previous summer, and who'd struggled for form and fitness. After the game, Bruce expressed his delight for the striker at bagging at brace.

I'm delighted for Fraizer because he's had to wait patiently and he's only a young player. The young players have done particularly well today.

The second goal was important because Barrow played their part - they were spirited and made it a proper cup tie.

I wasn't really anxious but it was a difficult day for everyone.

Given the run of form we were on in the league, this win provided some respite from Sunderland's Premier League woes.

A week later, Bruce would rue a a missed opportunity to get back to winning ways against fellow strugglers Bolton Wanderers, with the game postponed due to the snowy weather that befell the United Kingdom in early 2010.