Sunderland AFC exited the Carabao Cup after a defeat on penalties to Crewe Alexandra.
Crewe captain Luke Offord opened the scoring with a header in the first half. 16-year-old Chris Rigg levelled in the second-half becoming Sunderland’s youngest-ever goalscorer. Pierre Ekwah had his penalty saved in the shootout before Ryan Cooney sent the League Two side into the second round.
Tony Mowbray gave first competitive starts to Chris Rigg and Zak Johnson, with Academy graduate, Ellis Taylor also in from the start. 19-year-old Ben Crompton, was also given his debut as a half-time substitute.
Sunderland dominated possession in the opening moments with Taylor and Rigg coming closest with deflected efforts.
Connor O’Riordan very nearly had the visitors ahead after 15 minutes. A free-kick from around 25 yards out struck the post and bounced out for a goal-kick.
It was Pritchard’s turn to test the goalkeeper from a free-kick ten minutes later and his effort was parried away by Davies.
Five minutes from time, the Lads had their best opportunity. Abdoullah Ba attacking down the left side, cut inside to find Pritchard but his effort was straight into the arms of Davies.
On the stroke of half-time, the visitors took the lead. An in-swinging corner from the right side was met by the head of Luke Offord to give Crewe the advantage.
A flurry of changes from Tony Mowbray at the break saw Bradley Dack make his debut. The former Blackburn midfielder combined well with Pritchard five minutes into the second half but had his effort blocked.
Just over an hour on the clock and the Black Cats were level. A cross from Huggins was half cleared to the edge of the area where 16-year-old Rigg smashed home for his first competitive goal in red and white.
With 15 minutes remaining, Ekwah nearly had the Lads ahead. A first-time effort from the edge of the area was denied by the post.
With the game finishing level, it was straight to penalties. Ekwah had his low effort saved by Davies down to the goalkeeper’s left-hand side. Full-back Ryan Cooney dispatched past Bishop to send Lee Bell’s side into the next round.
Sunderland AFC: Bishop, Huggins, Batth, Ba (Clarke 55), Taylor (Dack 45), Bennette (Jobe 65), Pritchard, Neil (Ekwah 45), Triantis, Rigg, Johnson (Crompton 45)