Sunderland booked their place in the Premier League 2 play-off final following a dramatic 4-3 win in extra-time over Reading at the Select Car Leasing Stadium on Monday evening.
An Ellis Taylor superb hat-trick and a Trey Ogunsuyi strike was enough to claim victory. Jayden Wareham, Adrian Akande and Matty Carson scored for the Royals.
Graeme Murty was forced into one change, Timur Tutierov replaced Chris Rigg in the Black Cats’ starting XI following the midfielder's England U17 international call-up.
Sunderland took the lead through in-form captain Taylor on 11 minutes. The right-back collected Caden Kelly’s pass before expertly cutting inside and curling the ball into Coniah Boyce-Clarke’s top right-hand corner with an exquisite finish.
Kelly nearly doubled the visitor's lead a few minutes later, but his goal-bound strike from 20 yards deflected inches wide of Boyce-Clarke’s near post.
Murty’s side should have doubled their lead on 18 minutes, but Boyce-Clarke first denied Tutierov as he raced through on goal before recovering quickly to block Ogunsuyi’s follow-up attempt.
Reading levelled on 24 minutes; Wareham met Michael Stickland's knock-down at the back post to fire past Adam Richardson from close range.
Taylor again caused the home team problems down the right, skipping past his man before firing a low cross into the Royals six-yard box, but Boyce-Clarke was down quickly to save Tommy Watson’s back post strike.
Taylor doubled his tally for the evening on 30 minutes with another superbly rifled strike into Boyce-Clarke’s top right-hand corner.
The Black Cats should have added a third five minutes before the break following Tutierov’s neat cut-back, but Boyce-Clarke was well positioned again to palm Ogunsuyi’s shot away from goal.
Sunderland started the second half quickly, Oliver Bainbridge supplying Tutierov with a simple tap-in if it wasn’t for the outstretched leg of Jacob Borgnis to divert the ball away from danger.
Reading pushed for an equaliser and almost tied the score on 58 minutes when Charlie Wellens’ header from four yards out was hooked clear by Kelly on his goal line.
The host continued to apply the pressure, and came mighty close to equalising when Stickland headed Matty Carson’s floated free kick just wide.
Reading levelled the match on 75 minutes through Akande after the striker latched onto Wareham’s through ball before slotting past Richardson.
The home team took the lead on 78 minutes. Carson dispatched his free kick, finding Richardson’s top corner after John Clarke was adjudged to have been fouled on the edge of the box.
Sunderland almost found a way back into the match deep into added time, but Ogunsuyi failed to keep his shot on target after controlling Kelly’s cut-back.
Taylor was next to try his luck after Kelly initially drove forward, but Boyce-Clarke easily gathered his tame effort.
Taylor equalised for the Black Cats in the dying embers of the match, Watson’s shot was saved, but Taylor lashed home his hat-trick in clinical style.
In a thrilling end-to-end match, the tie entered extra time. First, Henry Fieldson denied the Royals with a goal-saving block, before Richardson pulled off a terrific point-blank save to keep the score level.
Watson almost found Boyce-Clarke’s near post with a drilled effort in the final moments of first-half extra-time.
In the dying embers, Kelly’s curling free-kick into the box found it’s way to Ogunsuyi who trapped the ball and fired into the bottom corner to create ecstatic scenes at the end.
Sunderland will travel to the capital on Sunday afternoon to face Tottenham Hotspur in the PL2 play-off final. Further details will be confirmed in due course.
SAFC XI: Richardson, Taylor © (Lavery 98’), Bell, Fieldson, Bainbridge, Middlemas, H.Jones (Ryder 90+2), Tutierov (J. Jones 98’) Kelly, Watson, Ogunsuyi.
Substitutes: Chibueze, Chungh.