SUNDERLAND visit Gresty Road boosted in recent weeks by the arrival of a new owner and the effects of a change of management.

The name of the Wearside giants may look out of place in League One, yet this is the Black Cats' third consecutive campaign in the third tier and they will have to do more than they have showed for large parts of this term to get back into the Championship.

Even that isn't a level commensurate with a club of their size. But while the division is different, Crewe have tangled with Sunderland during previous years of underachievement.

Notably when on a late November Saturday afternoon more than 17 years ago they dished out a 3-0 bashing to their illustrious visitors in front of a near capacity Gresty Road crowd of 9,807.

That victory, fashioned by a blitz of three goals inside 10 second-half minutes from Dean Ashton and Steve Jones (2), left Mick McCarthy's men stunned indeed.

Yet it was one of nine occasions Sunderland rubbed shoulders with Dario Gradi's side in the space of seven years as the Wearsiders spent four seasons bobbing up and down between the Premiership and Division One/Championship.

What still is Crewe's only league win over the north-easterners was down to lethal finishing from Ashton and Jones after a first-half in which Gradi's players were penned into their own half.

After the break, though, Ashton showed the clinical edge that was to secure him higher recognition when heading in a David Vaughan cross.

It was one of 19 goals in Ashton's portfolio that season - he also earned the Alex a 1-1 draw with an equaliser at the Stadium of Light in the reverse fixture in May 2004.

His partnership with livewire Jones steered Crewe clear of the drop with the Northern Ireland international chipping in with 15, including a brace here. He bounded clear to fire past keeper Mart Poom for the second before thrashing a third to complete a breathtaking spell of attacking.

But the front duo were not the only heroes that day - Clayton Ince blocked the way to goal at the other end with a string of impressive saves from former Alex loanee Stephen Wright, Alan Quinn, Tommy Smith and Stewart Downing.

And when the Trinidadian was beaten there was always another red shirt in the line of duty, notably when Colin Healy was thwarted by Steve Foster's bravery. The Newcastle Chronicle described the midfielder's first-half volley in macabre language, as having "almost decapitated" the Alex defender.

In the end it was Sunderland who we left feeling their heads had been left on the chopping block as Alex fans celebrated a famous win.

Crewe 3, Sunderland 0. November 22, 2003. Division One.