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By CIARAN FOREMAN, SPORTS REPORTER Published: 02: 39 AEDT, 9 March 2026 | Updated: 05: 58 AEDT, 9 March 2026 53 View comments For the Sunderland fans that had made the pilgrimage from the north-east to Vale Park, the clock had gone back all day.  After arriving in the Potteries, the supporters crammed into cafes and pubs and spoke of 1937 and 1973, when their club enjoyed some of their greatest days under the Wembley sun. But there was no Jimmy Montgomery or Bob Stokoe to save the day this time. Instead, the Black Cats were dragged back to the not-so-distant days when they themselves were languishing in League One, and fell to a stunning 1-0 defeat at the hands of third-tier basement boys Port Vale. Not only was the ignominy of being knocked out by Vale bad enough for Regis Le Bris' side, but the deciding goal came from Ben Waine, the headband-wearing New Zealander who supports Sunderland's bitter rivals Newcastle. He was not shy in paying tribute to Alan Shearer in celebration.   Sunderland never quite recovered. And, despite attempts from Le Bris to bring on the superstars that have already guaranteed him Premier League safety, the Valiants lived up to their nickname with a hard-fought victory to sensationally book their place in the FA Cup quarter-final. And now, their fans can dream. Vale are now one match away from the last four of the competition for the first time since 1954, when they last reached the quarter-final stage, too. Then, it was the Boys from Burslem who led them there. Now, it could be Waine from Wellington. There is little doubt that Le Bris' men struggled on the ragged, torn-up surface at Vale Park. But this was a side assembled with more than £150million of signings this season alone, knocked out by a team largely made up of free agents and rooted to the bottom of League One all season. It surely must sit among the great FA Cup upsets.   Ben Waine scored the winning goal against Sunderland in a shock FA Cup victory on Sunday The Newcastle fan paid tribute to Alan Shearer with his celebration in front of the away fans This was the first time since 1997 that Vale had beaten Sunderland, their last victory over the Black Cats coming when the two sides met in the old Division One. They had tried and failed on six occasions since to end that run, until this special afternoon. Vale certainly learned from the mistakes of old, too. When Sunderland visited Vale Park for an FA Cup tie in 2018, they had taken the lead within 40 seconds before going on to win 2-1.  This time, Vale threw their bodies on the line in an exhilarating defensive performance. The first of the heroics came through captain Kyle John, who put his head where it hurts to block a goal-bound header from Eliezer Mayenda which also crashed off the post after three minutes. Luke O'Nien, the only remaining member of the Sunderland squad that won at Vale Park more than seven years ago, then forced his goalkeeper Melker Ellborg into producing an astonishing save with his head, after almost lobbing the Swede when trying to play the ball back to him.   With that, the home crowd began to believe an upset was possible, and minutes later Vale took the lead through Waine. The 24-year-old, who scored the winning goal in extra-time against Bristol City to book Vale's place in the fifth-round, reacted quickest to nod a header beyond Ellborg in net.   'I always watched the (Newcastle) games against Sunderland and to even be involved in that game to score is something pretty special. Not only for me, but my family as well, ' match-winner Waine, whose mother is from Newcastle, said post-match. 'I knew I'd get a little boo as well from the Sunderland fans, so it was quite a nice moment to run past them and give a little bit back. They were giving me a bit of stick,  which I expected as soon as it went out about me being a Newcastle fan. I knew it was coming. ' Sunderland had moments of their own before the half was out. First, when Habib Diarra, knocked an effort wide after trying to lift his shot over the goalkeeper, before Diarra again flashed the ball across the face of goal shortly before half-time. They tried again after the restart when Dan Ballard nodded a header over the bar, and Joe Gauci was forced into a sharp save from Nelson Angulo with around 10 minutes to play. The visitors could even have been reduced to 10 men after Ellborg cleaned out George Hall when the Vale substitute was bearing down on goal, with the raucous home crowd chanting 'VAR! VAR! VAR! ' on the technology's first use at the ground.   Melker Ellborg had to make a save with his head after a wayward back-pass from Luke O'Nien Vale captain Kyle John put his head on the line to block an early header from Eliezer Mayenda Ellborg was booked after VAR confirmed referee Anthony Taylor's on-field decision that the foul did not deny an obvious goalscoring opportunity, but in the end it did not matter for the side 57 places below Sunderland in the English football pyramid, who ultimately deserved to win the game. Vale manager Brady, who was only appointed in January, was delighted with his team's performance but admitted that a run in the cup is a 'pain in the bum' for the scheduling demands it will now place on his side, who are still fighting to battle relegation from League One. 'Our boys are showing that they've got fighting spirit, ' Brady said. 'Hopefully now we're getting a better connection with the fans. You can see today, it was unbelievable, the connection at the end, and great memories for the football club. ' He added:  '(Being in the cup) is a bit of a pain in the bum, to be honest, because it's adding to our fixture list. 'As you seen today, one of my best centre-halves, we had to take him off because he started to break. We haven't got the size of the squad to probably cope with this amount of games at the moment. So, it's a privilege (to be in the cup). But it's tough as well. ' Sunderland boss Le Bris said he was upset for his supporters who had hoped for a run at silverware. 'I am a bit sad for them, because they are always behind us and they were today, ' Le Bris said. 'Once again, we pushed until the end. But it is what it is. We have to accept and go forward. ' Port Vale (5-4-1): Gauci 8; Gabriel 7, John 7, Humphreys 7 (Magloire, 45'), Hall 7, Gordon 6 (Campbell, 80'), Waine 8 (Ward 87'), Walters 6, Ojo 6, Archer 6 (Gray 57'), Brown 7 (Hall 57') Subs not used:  Amos, Headley, Shipley, Hernandez Booked: Brown, Waine, Brady Manager: Jon Brady 8 Sunderland (4-2-3-1): Ellborg 7; Geertruida 5, Ballard 5, O'Nien 4, Alderete 4, Rigg (Xhaka 83'), Diarra 5, Talbi 4 (Isidor 68'), Angulo 5, Le Fee 4, Mayenda 4 Subs not used:  Moore, Abdullahi, Aleksic, H. Jones, J. Jones, Whittaker, Geragusian Booked: Ellborg  Manager: Regis Le Bris 5 Referee:  Anthony Taylor 6 Attendance: 10, 685 (3, 110 away) 

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