Sunderland ended a shambles of a season on a high with a surprise 3-0 win over champions Wolves at the Stadium of Light - finally giving their supporters something to enjoy on the final day.
In addition to the impressive victory, the relegated Black Cats provided a great advert for their youth system by finishing the game with six academy players.
20-year old Luke Molyneux was handed his first start by caretaker boss Robbie Stockdale, but it was a lad four years younger who well and truly grabbed the headlines.
16-year old Bali Mumba replaced John O'Shea in the 87th minute and in a wonderful gesture, the Irishman passed on the armband to the prodigy 21 years his junior as he left the pitch - giving Mumba a dream debut and completing a fine individual season for him.
His late cameo means he turned out for the Under 18's, Under 23's and first-team all in one season - all this happening before the Year 11 student has even sat his GSCE's!
Stockdale expressed his pride at how the young players performed, as well as O'Shea's selfless gesture. He also joked that being skipper has already gone to Mumba's head.
Mumba, the man of the moment, was understandably buzzing post-match when speaking to Sunderland TV:
Advert
"It's just been going up, I just remember training from my age pushing up to the under 18's then under 23's now the first team.
"It's all a blessing for me, it's all gone quite quick and I'm grateful for that. I'm very happy."
What a story. Now get revising algebraic formulas, Bali!
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Football News, Football, Sunderland, John O'Shea, Wolves, championship
