Sunderland Reserves 0
Shamrock Rovers 1
Sunderland were beaten by Shamrock Rovers in a friendly at the Stadium of Light today.
The newly promoted eircom League Premier Division side scored a penalty early on and it proved enough to win the game.
Sunderland's side included a number of first-team hopefuls - Clive Clarke, Stephen Wright, Kenny Cunningham, Stanislav Varga, Tommy Miller, Arnau and Ross Wallace - and boss Roy Keane was there to watch them.
The winning goal came in the fourth minute when Varga brought down Andy Myler who got up to dispatch the penalty low to Trevor Carson's left.
Sunderland had most of the possession but could not find a way past Rovers goalkeeper Barry Murphy.
Nathan Luscombe's cross hit Tommy Miller in the 20th minute before Murphy pushed it against the post.
And six minutes later Varga headed Wallace's free-kick against the same upright.
It was all Sunderland in the second half but chances were few and far between.
The best fell to Wallace in the 80th minute, Murphy palming away his fierce drive.
Sunderland coach Kevin Richardson said: "They made it hard work for us - defending for nearly all the game, we lacked the quality to break them down."
Shamrock have been in the North-East for five days as part of their pre-season schedule, using Sunderland's Academy of Light training ground as a base.
Pat Scully's side enjoyed a 3-1 win over Durham City last week.
Scully said: "I was very proud of my young side. We've had a fantastic week, I'd like to thank Niall Quinn and Roy Keane. We watched Sunderland beat Derby yesterday and we enjoyed the game."
Sunderland: Carson, S. Wright, Varga, Cunningham, Clarke, Luscombe (Chapman 71), Richardson, Arnau, Wallace, Miller, Waghorn (Home-Jackson 71).
Shamrock Rovers: Murphy, Pender, Clarke, Price, Ferguson, Danny O'Conner (Bennett 81), McGill (Maher 70), Cassidy, Myler (Kellehed 60), Rowe, David O'Conner.
Attendance: 1,188.
