Because of where I live, Sunderland is easier to get to than the Riverside (although for some reason, I had never chosen to be a Sunderland fan - odd, that). I was one of the lucky few who had managed to get their hands on a ticket to see one of the worst away sides in the Premiership (my beloved Boro) travel to the worst side in the Premiership.

The only time I'd ever been to Wearside was passing through on the train, and I had seen the Stadium of Light from the window. And yes, it is an impressive stadium, and an easy walk from the station - no signposts, but following the sea of red-and-white striped shirts it's not that hard to get there.

The stadium itself is surrounded by an industrial estate, and I was glad to be walking through it in daylight (especially with a Boro shirt on). Once inside the ground, it was hard not to be (grudgingly) impressed. The Stadium of Light is similar in design to St. James? Park, with one massive lower tier running all the way around the field, and up upper tier which runs around half of the pitch. Apparently, they can expand it to the other two sides of the pitch if Sunderland become a regular European team, so I wonder if they'll be taking the upper tier down if (or should I say when) Sunderland get relegated?

As the match was a derby game, the number of tickets was restricted due to fears of crowd violence which, ironically, was what led to the first instances of trouble. Boro scored, we all jumped up and cheered - including the Boro fans who has bought their tickets for the Sunderland end. Needless to say, punches, kicks and large amounts of police ensued. Kinda like a car crash - you know you shouldn't look (especially after you've paid £25 to watch the game), but you can't help yourself. I assume the away fans had been chucked out by the time we'd scored out second (and third), but after the first the game was over.