O`Donovan stakes his claim

Forgotten man Roy O'Donovan served manager Steve Bruce with a timely reminder as he plundered a hat-trick on reserve team duty. The 24-year-old Irishman claimed a treble in his side's 6-1 win over Bolton's second string at Hetton following his return from a loan spell at Southend. With first-team manager Steve Bruce among the crowd, O'Donovan cancelled out Danny Ward's opener for the visitors and after Nathan Luscombe had put the Black Cats 2-1 ahead, then struck twice in the second half before David Healy's penalty and a second for Luscombe completed the rout. Both O'Donovan and Healy will hope to have caught Bruce's eye with Kenwyne Jones facing a three-match ban following his sending-off against West Ham at the weekend and Fraizer Campbell missing that game through injury.