Carl Jenkinson was left wondering what might have been after his first West Ham United goal dragged the Hammers back into contention at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
With Slaven Bilic’s men two goals down and seemingly set to surrender their unbeaten away Barclays Premier League record, full-back Jenkinson timed his run to perfection to convert Victor Moses’ centre in first-half stoppage time.
Jenkinson’s timing was perfect in every sense. The full-back’s stylish left-footed finish gave the Hammers renewed impetus after the break and once Dimitri Payet had levelled proceedings, the visitors looked much the likelier to wrestle all three points from the lowly Mackems.
But even in spite of Jeremain Lens’ subsequent dismissal for two bookable offences after 57 minutes, Sunderland battled away to claim a share of the spoils, leaving Jenkinson, ultimately, to rue missed opportunities.
With Slaven Bilic’s men two goals down and seemingly set to surrender their unbeaten away Barclays Premier League record, full-back Jenkinson timed his run to perfection to convert Victor Moses’ centre in first-half stoppage time.
Jenkinson’s timing was perfect in every sense. The full-back’s stylish left-footed finish gave the Hammers renewed impetus after the break and once Dimitri Payet had levelled proceedings, the visitors looked much the likelier to wrestle all three points from the lowly Mackems.
But even in spite of Jeremain Lens’ subsequent dismissal for two bookable offences after 57 minutes, Sunderland battled away to claim a share of the spoils, leaving Jenkinson, ultimately, to rue missed opportunities.
He told West Ham TV: “It’s nice to get on the scoresheet. I don't do it too often, so it’s great.
“I saw Victor [Moses] getting down the line. I've got to try to get in the box sometimes, it came to me and I slotted it home.
“Obviously it was a good time to score just before half-time and I think that rattled them a bit.
“In the second half we just dominated the game. We had chances and just couldn't put the ball in the back of the net. Fair play to Sunderland they dug deep and they got the result.
“We're disappointed that we didn't score again and get three points, but we're on a good little run now and we've not lost in a while. Of course we wanted to win and it's a bit frustrating. Sunderland dug deep and sometimes you have to give the other team a bit of credit.”
The Hammers’ second-half resurgence was a far cry from much of the first half, with a rampant Sunderland threatening to run away with proceedings. And Jenkinson himself confessed that it could have been a whole lot worse at the interval.
“To be fair, Sunderland were brilliant in the first half. We started well but then we let them play and we had a dip,” he confirmed.
“We were fortunate to only be two behind at one point. But once we got back into the game, from then on there only really looked like there was going to be one team to go on and win the game.
“It's a shame that we couldn’t get that last goal to be honest. But it wasn't through a lack of effort.”
All in all, the Hammers can reflect on another positive away day, with ten points now gleaned from a possible 12 on their travels, and Jenkinson hopes the Hammers can cement an excellent start to the new campaign.
“It's great, it's a really good away record. It’s something we can proud of and we've got to build on that now.
“We've got some tough games coming up and we've got to in there with confidence, which obviously we've got right now.”