Sunderland continued their rich vein of form with a slim victory over a Stoke City side who looked considerably weaker without Ade Akinbiyi and lynchpin Gerry Taggart.
The Black Cats took the early initiative and fired several warning shots across the City goal.
Stephen Elliott earned the first in the ninth minute when he battled past Wayne Thomas only to blaze his effort over.
Stoke had a lucky escape five minutes later when Julio Arca found Marcus Stewart up field who in turn threaded a ball for Dean Whitehead but the midfielder's 10-yard shot was blocked well by Steve Simonsen.
The home side had to wait until the 37th minute for their first sight of goal but it arrived in a spectacular style when Chris Greenacre fired a 25-yard left footed drive that tested Thomas Myhre.
The pace of the game briefly picked up after the break with the crowd being entertained by end-to-end football.
Thomas nearly gifted Sunderland the lead on 54 minutes when his mis-control at left back allowed Elliott a clear run on goal but Michael Duberry deflected the shot allowing Simonsen to grab it.
After 30 minutes of frustration for both sides, a goal finally arrived.
Liam Lawrence's swirling left-sided corner was met at the back post by the head of Chris Brown but it was substitute Michael Bridges who got the final touch from point blank range.
Bridges popped up again a minute later but was denied by another superb Simonsen save.
Stoke attempted to grab an equaliser on 88 minutes from a Clarke corner but after a long scramble the ball was poked wide.