There can be no arguments about our right to go through. We were somewhat unfortunate to be behind at half time but then came out and turned in a rousing second half performance that led to Northern Ireland Under-21 left back Luke Conlan hammering home the winner in the last minute of normal time.
That it was Conlan was absolutely just. It was he who presented Sunderland with the opener in just the tenth minute of the game and I can't recall him making a mistake after that. But he wasn't the only player to stand out and in particular we saw a superb second half show from his full back partner Cameron Dummigan.
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| Last minute winner from Luke Conlan |
Against a Sunderland side that included Lee Cattermole and a collection of the summer international signings, we started quite nervously but it was that mistake from Conlan that put us on the back foot in the tenth minute.
Right out on the left touchline he tried to play the ball back to goalkeeper Alex Cisak but it was short and Craig Lynch got in to score with ease.
We recovered quickly and Jamie Frost forced a save from visiting goalkeeper Joel Dixon, but a couple more chances fell Sunderland's way and had either gone in then it might just have been game over. They missed target with one whilst Cisak did well to save from El Hadji Ba.
As the first half progressed it was Burnley coming more and more into the game. We had a few half chances but nothing dropped for us in the box although both Steven Hewitt and Jason Gilchrist, along with Frost again, were close to grabbing an equaliser.
A goal down at half time I felt we might just have deserved to be level but we came out for the second half and it was an altogether different story as we dominated virtually the whole of the next 45 minutes.
Ryan Noble forced an early save out of Dixon and it seemed to set the pattern. Our passing was exquisite at times and the two full backs were supporting the attack almost throughout. And on 66 minutes our play finally brought a richly deserved equaliser.
A well worked move ended with Frost laying the ball to Luke Gallagher. The Republic of Ireland midfielder always impresses me and did so again tonight. This time he cut in and hammered the ball into the far top corner.
Sunderland had no answer. Dixon saved a long range effort from Howieson. The New Zealander and Hewitt were prompting attack after attack and you sensed a winner. It didn't look as though it was going to come and we finally had some defending to do as Sunderland nicked five minutes towards the end of the game.
But it was to be us who rightly won it and it was to be Conlan who deservedly got the winner. We poured forward as the fourth official started to step forward to signal two extra minutes and won a corner.
Howieson's flag kick found Kevin Long whose header looked to have done the trick, but it came back off the bar to Conlan who blasted home to the delight of the players and supporters.
The only disappointing was the attendance of under 350 but our supporters will get the chance to see us in action again in the Round of 16 after we secured a home tie against Bolton.
What an enjoyable game it was to watch, and what a damn good result against a Category 1 team.
The teams were;
Burnley: Alex Cisak, Cameron Dummigan, Alex Coleman, Kevin Long, Luke Conlan, Jamie Frost, Cameron Howieson, Steven Hewitt, Luke Gallagher, Jason Gilchrist, Ryan Noble. Subs not used: Danijel Nizic, Jack Errington, Kyle Brownhill, Luke Daly, Christian Hill.
Sunderland: Joel Dixon, Louis Laing, David Ferguson, Lee Cattermole, John Egan, Scott Harrison, Chris Mavrias (George Honeyman 83), Cabral (Liam Agnew 68), Craig Lynch, El Hadji Ba, David Moberg Karlsson (Duncan Watmore 56). Subs not used: Maksymilian Stryjek, Tom McNamee.
Referee: Paul Graham (Manchester).
Attendance: 347.