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 £1.4million deadline-day signing from Wigan in August, netted only his second goal of the season in the 53rd minute to extend the Black Cats' unbeaten run to six games.

After an inconsistent start to his managerial career at Sunderland, Roy Keane is now conjuring the kind of consistency required from his players to make a serious bid for a play-off spot.

However, they were forced to endure an early scare as Luton's Dean Morgan opened the scoring in the fifth minute.

Sunderland's response was impressive, just four minutes later Daryl Murphy equalised, hammering the ball into the top corner from 12 yards.