John gets big goal versus old club - 08/15/07

Trinidad and Tobago striker Stern John may have given himself a valuable lifeline in the Premiership as he came off the bench and sneaked in a last minute equalizer to help Sunderland to a 2-2 draw against his old team Birmingham City on Wednesday.

John, under pressure in the last few weeks with speculation of a transfer out of the Sunderland, replaced Michael Connoly in the 58^th minute and moments after hitting the cross bar, he found himself just in the right place to follow up on a save to Rod Wallace’s free kick and slot him the rebound to end a match that was played at a frenetic pace

John celebrates goal vs Birmingham

A Carlos Edwards cross saw him head off the bar from the six yard box earlier on.

Click here to see the goal

The goal for John came in his 250^th appearance in English League football as Edwards too was running out in England for the same number of times.

Sunderland boss Roy Keane said he had a feeling John would shake the net.

“I knew he'd score, because in the corridor here I saw a picture of him scoring as a Birmingham player. A lot of players go back to their old club and have a tendency to score. It usually happens, so I was confident he would score. I keep saying it is not a coincidence to score so many late goals, because the desire and determination was there for all to see.

Edwards though limped off with a hamstring strain while Dwight Yorke was not in the team.

"It was my mistake - I should have taken him off earlier.”

John was a happy man nonetheless saying “It felt great to come and score against Birmingham because they are my old club and I know we wanted a result here badly. I’m just pleased to have got in and finish the job. I know how important a performance like this would be for the club.”

Roy Keane

Birmingham City boss Steve Bruce who signed John before sending him away at City, had doubts over John’s strike but still spoke well of him in the end.

I was determined to go back in the Premier League and not bleat about referees or linesmen. But I've seen their centre-forward jumping on my goalkeeper and stopping him getting up. I think the referee should be seeing that, because everyone else is seeing that.

"After he makes the save, he's still lying in the back of the net. The referee and linesman have missed it - which has cost us dearly - and it's a shame, because he produced a fantastic save.

"He (John) was a great servant here and one of my all-time favourites I have managed here. When I saw him warming up and the reception the crowd gave him I feared he might have an impact. But before he got there, we believe there was definitely a foul.