Sunderland - 2 Luton Town - 1:David Connolly took another small step towards repaying his hefty transfer fee with a second-half winner for resurgent Sunderland against rivals Luton.
The Republic of Ireland striker, a £1.4 million deadline-day signing from Wigan in August, netted only his second goal of the season in the 53rd minute to extend Roy Keane's side's unbeaten run to six games.
Connolly has struggled with injuries since his arrival at the Stadium of Light but he showed he has lost none of his predatory qualities with the all-important winning goal.
After an inconsistent start to his managerial career at Sunderland, Keane is now conjuring the kind of consistency required from his players to make a serious bid for a play-off spot.
The Corkman, however, believes his side will have to scrap until the last match of the season to force their way into contention for a return to the Premiership.
He said: "We are heading in the right direction but I think we will play catch-up until the end of the season.
"It was the same as last week, a difficult match against a very good team who play football. It was always going to be a long afternoon after we conceded a goal after just five minutes.
"We did not play particularly well but two great finishes have won us the game. There will be a lot more ups and downs but I'm sure our supporters will enjoy their pints tonight because they want to see us win."
Sunderland were forced to endure an early scare as Luton striker Dean Morgan opened the scoring in the fifth minute.
Sunderland's response was impressive and two minutes later Republic of Ireland midfielder Graham Kavanagh hit a 30-yard shot just wide.
A breathless opening then almost saw the visitors double their advantage as Ahmet Brkovic's header forced Marton Fulop into a smart stop.
In the ninth minute, though, Sunderland were level as former Waterford United striker Daryl Murphy was on hand to hit a powerful left-footed shot into the top corner from 12 yards.
Then, seven minutes before the break Sunderland were ahead as Connolly fired into the bottom corner from 20 yards.
Luton continued to probe in the second half and created several noteworthy goalscoring opportunities but Sunderland managed to hold on to their lead.
SUNDERLAND: Fulop, Whitehead, Caldwell, Varga, Collins, Stephen Eliott, Miller, Kavanagh, Wallace, Connolly (Leadbitter 78), Murphy. Subs not used: Carson, Nyatanga, Robbie Elliott, Yorke. Goals: Murphy 9, Connolly 53.
LUTON: Kiely, Foley, Heikkinen, Barnett, Emanuel, Edwards, Bell, Robinson, Brkovic, Vine (Feeney 76), Morgan (Boyd 76. Subs not used: Beresford, Perrett, Langley. Booked: Brkovic. Goals: Morgan 5.
Referee: A Penn (W Midlands).
