Sunderland paid tribute to Ian Porterfield in the best way possible today, as a day of celebrations was rounded off with a 2-1 win over Reading at the Stadium of Light.

Prior to the game, members of the 1973 FA Cup winning side, including Micky Horswill, Jim Montgomery, Bobby Kerr, and Dennis Tueart, were applauded as they gathered by the Bob Stokoe statue outside the stadium to pay their own tributes, before they joined the players on the pitch in a minute's applause, as the commentary from Porterfield's famous goal played.

As for the game itself, well, it marked another first, as Roy Keane named an unchanged starting XI for the first time since he took over at Sunderland, with the only change in the squad of 16 seeing Greg Halford return from suspension, replacing Michael Kay on the subs bench. Reading took the initiative to Sunderland from the start, with Leroy Lita blazing a shot over Darren Ward's goal inside the opening minute, as we saw Kenwyne Jones attempt a 20 yard shot on his home debut that forced Marcus Hahnemann into a save on four minutes.

Reading had to defend a lot more from there, as Grant Leadbitter saw Hahnemann punch his free kick away, before a volley from Leadbitter was parried away into the path of Michael Chopra, who was flagged offside as he tried to head in the rebound on 13 minutes. Sunderland built up the pressure though, as Kenwyne Jones found himself winning a lot of free kicks as the visitors struggled to cope with him - and sure enough, Jones marked his home debut with a goal.

With the ball at his feet, Jones turned past defender Ivar Ingimarsson, smashing a left footed shot past Hahnemann before the Trinidad and Tobago striker ran off to celebrate with a back-flip. Although the game was just 29 minutes old, the delayed start meant that our £6m striker found the back of the net at 3.31pm - quite the time to score on this day!

Even with a two-goal cushion, we kept going for more, with Jones still at the heart of all of our attacking moves, although Dickson Etuhu and Michael Chopra both came close with 20-yard efforts. Reading did look somewhat livelier in the final half hour, as Dave Kitson came close with a header from Graeme Murty's cross, shortly before the Reading skipper denied Wallace a second goal at the other end.

Danny Collins nearly made it 3-0 with a header from a Leadbitter free kick, but the most memorable moment of the game came with about ten minutes to go, as the entire crowd stood up and applauded when a chant of "Stand Up for the Porterfield" rang around the stadium. Reading did pull a goal back with five minutes to go when Dave Kitson managed to steer the ball past Gordon following Nicky Shorey's free kick, which forced a frantic finish as Sunderland clung on for the win.

In the end though, the three points was a welcome return, but today was about one man. It was just a shame he couldn't be there to witness it.

Sunderland: Gordon, McShane, Nosworthy, Higginbotham, Collins, Leadbitter, Yorke, Etuhu, Wallace (sub 64, Stokes), Jones (sub 83, Murphy), Chopra (sub 81, Miller). Subs: Ward, Halford.

Reading: Hahnemann, Murty, Bikey, Ingimarsson, Shorey, Rosenior (sub 78, Convey), Harper, Gunnarsson (sub 73, Fae), Hunt, Lita (sub 67, Long), Kitson. Subs: Federici, de la Cruz.