Sunderland 1 Fleetwood Town 1: Joey Barton denied sixth straight win by 97th-minute Max Power equaliser

Fleetwood defended like Trojans  but couldn't quite hang on to secure a sixth straight League One victory at big guns Sunderland.
Barrie McKay celebrates his first Fleetwood goal with Callum ConnollyBarrie McKay celebrates his first Fleetwood goal with Callum Connolly
Barrie McKay celebrates his first Fleetwood goal with Callum Connolly
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Joey Barton: My Fleetwood team ready for anything at Sunderland

The Cod Army continue their play-off tilt and again showed they are capable of taking on the best the third tier can offer as they stretched their unbeaten run to nine games.

Unsurprisingly there were no team changes made by boss Joey Barton ahead of the huge Stadium of Light test against fellow play-off chasers in similarly impressive form.

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Following the weekend victory over Portsmouth, Barton didn't even alter his substitutes as Town looked to preserve their unbeaten record in three previous games against the Black Cats.

Once the action got under way, Town ought to have silenced the noisy home faithful before 30 seconds had been played.

Pouncing on a poor pass in the midfield, Paddy Madden played in Barrie McKay only for the Swansea loanee to fire straight at grateful keeper Jon McLaughlin.

McKay made no mistake in the fifth minute, however, scoring his first goal for the club.

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Meeting Madden's short pass, he dummied defender Alim Ozturk sweetly before tucking a shot underneath McLaughlin from 10 yards.

Chris Maguire lashed an angled strike narrowly over the top as the Black Cats sought a swift response but Town, in all yellow, continued to parade an impressive mean streak.

Afte 20 minutes the visitors looked pretty much in control and that was beginning to rile the home support, who were becoming increasingly agitated.

Town fashioned another opening in the 24th minute but Lewie Coyle fired well off-target from just outside the box.

The woodwork came to Town's rescue soon after.

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Denver Hume touched the ball to Maguire inside the visitors' box and his fizzing angled effort brushed the crossbar before going out for a throw-in on the far side.

As the Black Cats continued to press in the run-up to the interval, both Jordan Willis and Lynden Gooch also came close to evening it up.

However, Barton's battlers made it through to the break with their slender lead intact.

The Sunderland players were out early for the second half and they began as purposefully as expected.

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Midfielder Power pounced on a loose ball before seeing a 20-yard drive saved by Alex Cairns, while at the other end, McKay lined up a free-kick, only to see McLaughlin save comfortably.

It was almost time for the Black Cats fans to begin looking anxiously at their watches, and they were almost silenced on the hour mark when an unmarked Harry Souttar headed over the top from six yards.

This game was still right up for grabs with 20 minutes to go, though the gutsy Town back-line did appear to be holding firm.

Coyle fluffed a great chance to extend Town's lead in the 75th minute, when he forced McLaughlin into another agile stop, and that miss proved costly so, so late in the game thanks to Power.

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Town had to settle for a point and have slipped out of the play-off places, dropping to seventh on goal difference, but still with a game in hand on most of those above them.

Fleetwood: Cairns 7, Coyle 8, Souttar 8, Gibson 7, Andrew 7, Burns 6 (Saunders, 83), Whelan 8, Coutts 6 (Sowerby, 76), Connolly 8, McKay 7 (Morris, 76), Madden 7.

Subs not used: Crellin, Thorvaldsson, Biggins, Holgate.

Sunderland: McLaughlin, Willis (Watmore 86), Ozturk, Flanagan, O'Nien, Dobson (Lafferty 76), Power, Hume (Semenyo 65), Maguire, Wyke, Gooch; Subs not used: McLaughlin, Burge,

Referee: Scott Oldham

Attendance: 28,255