Gray's Town Give Rotating Sunderland a Nasty Turn

Stuart Gray knows all about losing bruising midfield jousts with Roy Keane but the Northampton manager exacted some measure of revenge for past batterings by forcing a penalty shoot-out last night. Keane may have got the better of Gray during their playing days but here Sunderland's manager saw a questionable rotation policy backfire and his Premier League team very nearly come badly undone.

Sunderland - who, having used all three substitutes, were reduced to 10 men in extra-time after Nyron Nosworthy hobbled off - eventually stole through on penalties, their reserve keeper Marton Fulop saving the decisive final kick from Leon Constantine. But it was mighty close.

"I'm so proud," said Gray, whose side are floundering in League One but knocked out Bolton in the last round. "We knocked the ball about and caused them problems." A glowering Keane, who seemed affronted that some home supporters had the temerity to boo him, blamed complacency. "It was a bad, bad night," he said. "One of the worst and longest I've had in my football career. A shambles. Everyone just thought we were going to win but we're not bloody Real Madrid, we need to work our socks off. But don't worry, I'll address it."

Sunderland have a woeful cup record under Keane and they swiftly fell behind when Colin Larkin - deployed wide on the right of Gray's 4-5-1 formation - raced on to Constantine's flicked back-header and, having chested the ball down, half-volleyed it, right-footed, beyond Fulop.

With Constantine receiving the ball direct from the keeper's long punt it was a real route-one strike but, far from being a kick-and-rush ensemble, Gray's men provided the night's better passes with Luke Guttridge outstanding.

Sunderland's manager had revamped his team - there were eight changes from the side which started last Saturday's 2-0 win against Middlesbrough - and made two further half-time alterations when Michael Chopra and Kieran Richardson replaced the disappointing Carlos Edwards and David Healy.

By now Keane - a manager so dedicated to rotation that his treasured pet dog Triggs has recently been forced to play second fiddle to a newly-acquired German Shepherd - may have started wondering whether giving Djibril Cissé and El-Hadji Diouf the night off was a good idea. Indeed Northampton looked fully in control when they doubled their lead in the 81st minute. Once again the excellent Larkin was involved, crossing for Guttridge to volley home.

Anthony Stokes, another Sunderland substitute, is infamous for his sometimes less-than-reliable timekeeping - he was once dropped for missing the team coach - and he left it late to force extra-time by first stabbing home from close range after the keeper, Frank Fielding, collided with a defender and then, deep in stoppage time, heading in Andy Reid's corner.

It proved insufficient to placate his manager. "I'm not feeling relief," said Keane. "I'm feeling anger, disappointment, frustration and a few other things. We got out of jail again - but we can't keep on doing it."