Sunderland's on this day record for 12th March
2005 CHMP Crewe Alexandra A W 1-0
1997 PREM Sheffield Wednesday A L 1-2
1996 LD1 Oldham Athletic A W 2-1
1988 DIV3 Wigan Athletic A D 2-2
1985 DIV1 WATFORD H D 1-1
1983 DIV1 Stoke City A W 1-0
1966 DIV1 BLACKPOOL H W 2-1
1960 DIV2 PLYMOUTH ARGYLE H W 4-0
1949 DIV1 PORTSMOUTH H L 1-4
1938 DIV1 Liverpool A L 0-4
1932 DIV1 Middlesbrough A W 1-0
1927 DIV1 CARDIFF CITY H D 2-2
1921 DIV1 Chelsea A L 1-3
1910 DIV1 Chelsea A W 4-1
1904 DIV1 EVERTON H W 2-0
1898 DIV1 BLACKBURN ROVERS H W 2-1
1892 FLGE PRESTON NORTH END H W 4-1
Football results from or before Saturday, 12th March 2005
The F.A. Cup
6th Round
BOLTON WANDERERS (PREM) (0) 0 ARSENAL (PREM) (1) 1 23,523
SOUTHAMPTON (PREM) (0) 0 MANCHESTER UNITED (PREM) (2) 4 30,971
Coca-Cola Championship
BURNLEY (2) 2 ROTHERHAM UNITED (1) 1 10,539
COVENTRY CITY (1) 1 CARDIFF CITY (1) 1 17,059
CREWE ALEXANDRA (0) 0 SUNDERLAND (0) 1 7,949
IPSWICH TOWN (2) 6 NOTTINGHAM FOREST (0) 0 25,765
LEEDS UNITED (0) 1 GILLINGHAM (1) 1 27,995
PLYMOUTH ARGYLE (4) 5 BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION (1) 1 15,606
PRESTON NORTH END (1) 2 WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS (1) 2 16,296
QUEENS PARK RANGERS (2) 3 WATFORD (0) 1 16,638
READING (2) 3 WEST HAM UNITED (0) 1 22,268
STOKE CITY (0) 2 SHEFFIELD UNITED (0) 0 17,019
WIGAN ATHLETIC (0) 2 MILLWALL (0) 0 9,614
2005 - CREWE 0 SUNDERLAND 1
41 Thomas Myhre 6
3 George McCartney 7
6 Steven Caldwell 7
5 Garry Breen 7
2 Stephen Wright 7
15 Sean Thornton (Arca 57) 6
8 Jeff Whitley 7
4 Carl Robinson 6
14 Dean Whitehead 8
10 Marcus Stewart (Brown 90) 6
38 Michael Bridges (Elliott 54) 5
Substitutes
13 Michael Ingham
7 Liam Lawrence
33 Julio Arca (Thornton 57) 6
19 Stephen Elliott (Bridges 54) 7
20 Chris Brown (Stewart 90)
Second-half substitute Stephen Elliott (pictured right) kept Sunderland in the automatic promotion hunt with the winner at Crewe.
But Mick McCarthy's side were forced to work hard against the spirited effort of the struggling Cheshire side, who are without a win in 11 games now.
Yet they made life difficult for the Wearsiders, who had to weather a late storm in which David Vaughan came close to bagging an equaliser but for Steve Caldwell's vital block.
Colin Murdock saw Marcus Stewart clear his firm header from a corner early on and Mark Rivers then flashed a volley a couple of yards over.
But Sunderland hit back and George McCartney's 25-yard effort forced Ben Williams to make a double save.
Stewart then wasted a good opening when Michael Bridges dummied Dean Whitehead's crossfield pass and Stewart spun away, but fired high and wide from the edge of the box.
It almost proved costly for McCarthy's men as Steve Foster thumped a downward header inches wide of Thomas Myhre's far post from Vaughan's carefully-flighted free kick just past the half-hour mark.
But Crewe also had an escape when attacking left-back McCartney whipped in a cross from the left on 35 minutes. The ball sneaked through to the far post to hand Carl Robinson a sight at the bottom corner, but under pressure from Anthony Tonkin the Welsh international failed to get in a shot and Williams held on to the half-hit shot.
McCarthy attempted to pep up his disappointing frontline nine minutes after the break replacing Michael Bridges with Elliott and the Irishman was swiftly into the action turning away from Foster and driving just over the top corner.
But the introduction of a second substitute in the space of three minutes proved decisive with Julio Arca taking the ball almost as soon as he had replaced Sean Thornton and steaming clear of Darren Moss.
The Argentinian's shot from the left of goal came back off the post and Elliott picked up the rebound and smashed it home from eight yards.
Rivers was inches away from applying a finishing touch after Luke Varney flicked on a Kenny Lunt corner.
Then Vaughan wanted too much time when Varney turned on Lee Bell's excellent pass and set the winger up on the left of the box. But Whitehead was in quickly with some mean defending to take the ball out for a corner.
Foster snuffed out Elliott's chance of a second after Stewart pulled the ball back from the by-line after some neat play by Arca as Sunderland looked to kill the contest.
But they were forced to endure some uncomfortable moments in the closing stages. Jeff Whitley's late foul on Vaughan offered Lunt a free-kick within his shooting range in the last minute, but the Alex captain fired it over.
Historical league standings at 12th March 2005
Home Away Overall
# Team Pl W D L F A W D L F A W D L F A Pts GD
1 Wigan Athletic 37 12 4 3 38 11 9 5 4 27 16 21 9 7 65 27 72 38
2 Sunderland 37 12 4 2 35 17 10 2 7 23 16 22 6 9 58 33 72 25
3 Ipswich Town 37 14 2 3 39 18 6 7 5 29 26 20 9 8 68 44 69 24
4 Derby County 37 7 6 6 30 28 10 3 5 26 19 17 9 11 56 47 60 9
5 Preston North End 37 12 5 2 36 20 5 4 9 16 29 17 9 11 52 49 60 3
6 Reading 37 11 6 2 29 12 4 6 8 14 22 15 12 10 43 34 57 9
7 West Ham United 36 11 2 5 28 18 5 4 9 22 28 16 6 14 50 46 54 4
8 Stoke City 36 10 2 6 18 11 5 7 6 9 13 15 9 12 27 24 54 3
9 Sheffield United 36 7 6 5 22 17 8 3 7 22 28 15 9 12 44 45 54 -1
10 Leeds United 38 7 7 5 26 20 6 6 7 18 22 13 13 12 44 42 52 2
11 Queens Park Rangers 36 9 5 5 27 20 6 2 9 19 26 15 7 14 46 46 52 0
12 Millwall 37 9 3 6 23 17 5 6 8 14 17 14 9 14 37 34 51 3
13 Burnley 36 7 6 5 18 16 5 7 6 11 14 12 13 11 29 30 49 -1
14 Wolverhampton W'drs. 37 5 10 3 29 23 5 7 7 26 28 10 17 10 55 51 47 4
15 Watford 37 5 8 5 21 17 5 6 8 24 30 10 14 13 45 47 44 -2
16 Plymouth Argyle 37 8 5 6 28 21 4 3 11 17 29 12 8 17 45 50 44 -5
17 Brighton & Hove Albion 37 7 4 7 18 20 5 4 10 13 30 12 8 17 31 50 44 -19
18 Crewe Alexandra 37 5 7 7 33 32 6 3 9 22 36 11 10 16 55 68 43 -13
19 Leicester City 35 5 6 6 16 15 4 9 5 19 19 9 15 11 35 34 42 1
20 Cardiff City 36 8 3 7 20 15 2 8 8 18 25 10 11 15 38 40 41 -2
21 Coventry City 37 5 6 8 20 23 5 4 9 26 37 10 10 17 46 60 40 -14
22 Gillingham 37 8 3 7 17 20 2 5 12 19 37 10 8 19 36 57 38 -21
23 Nottingham Forest 36 6 6 5 21 21 2 6 11 14 32 8 12 16 35 53 36 -18
24 Rotherham United 37 1 7 10 15 29 2 6 11 13 28 3 13 21 28 57 22 -29