As the final whistle sounded there were the inevitable tears and cheers but the overriding emotion among the vast majority of the crowd was a sense of blessed relief that the promotion hopes of the most exciting Sunderland team for the best part of a generation were somehow still aflame.

This being Wearside it was anything but a straightforward victory and after one of the most dominant first-half performances the play-offs can ever have produced, Peter Reid's team crumbled under the weight of the tension. And 18 minutes from time only the reactions of Lionel Perez foiled shots from Graham Stuart, Paul Devlin and Dean Saunders.

But Sunderland survived, just, helped along the way by a Kevin Phillips goal - a flashing header diverting a hot-shot from Nicky Summerbee - that equalled Brian Clough's post-war club record of 34 in a season.

With the attacking left-back Michael Gray back in the fold following a three-game suspension, Sunderland were an altogether more balanced proposition than on Sunday and that, allied to the non-appearance of Vassilis Borbokis, a scorer and a creator in the first leg, ensured it was from that flank that United were nearly consumed by an early swarm of red-and-white shirts.

A series of near misses threatened to open the floodgates for Sunderland but it wasn't until 20 rather one-sided minutes had elapsed when a harmless-looking shot from Johnston, on the left corner of the area, came into contact with the unfortunate Nicky Marker, trickled on to the post and into the net.

Then, in a breathless 120second spell from the 38th minute, Phillips created his own piece of club history, Johnston hit the post and a Niall Quinn header was beaten away by the keeper.

The celebrations could not begin in earnest, however, for just as on Sunday Sheffield emerged for the second half in a considerably sharper frame of mind. With Saunders forever in the thick of things there was little inclination to relax, although the desperate edge to their play was hardly conducive to quality football.

Sunderland: Perez, Holloway, Gray, Clark, Craddock, Williams, Summerbee, Ball, Quinn, Phillips (Dichio 76), Johnston. Subs Not Used: Rae, Ord. Booked: Johnston, Dichio. Goals: Marker 21 og, Phillips 38.

Sheff Utd: Tracey, Wilder, Quinn, Ford (Dellas 71), Sandford, Holdsworth, Saunders, Marker (Stuart 58), Devlin, Marcello (Morris 81), Hamilton. Booked: Wilder, Sandford, Holdsworth. Att: 40,092.

Referee: M E Pierce (Portsmouth).