BEFORE hostilities commenced, Fulham honoured a man revered for his poise and finesse, a character who possessed a low tolerance threshold towards his teammates’ failings. An imposing statue of Johnny Haynes was unveiled before the game by Fulham chairman Mohamed al-Fayed. The real thing would have had plenty of opportunity for withering looks at teammates on an afternoon when indifferent passing — Pele once claimed that Haynes’s quality was the best he had seen — too frequently damaged the home side’s best endeavours.

It was a terrible shame, then, that Jimmy Hill had to be ushered away by police after being verbally abused by Sunderland supporters when he appeared on the pitch as one of Fulham’s legends at Craven Cottage. Hill was one of many former Fulham players presented to the crowd at half-time as part of the Haynes tribute. The animosity towards Hill apparently stems from the final day of the 1977 season, when Sunderland were relegated. The club of which he was then chairman, Coventry, were playing Bristol City. Both could have been relegated, but it was Sunderland who went down from the old First Division.

Even when opportunities did fall their way, Fulham’s lack of finishing prowess further contributed to their woes. The fact that the Londoners’ leading scorer, or scorers (there are four of them), are all on one league goal tells the story of their season.

Haynes, “The Maestro”, as he was known, died in 2005, and Fayed reflected: “I hope his spirit is around us now and he brings us luck.” In the event, he brought Fulham sufficient good fortune to gain them a point which, although it scarcely aids their league position, ended a sequence of four defeats in all competitions.

Sunderland could and should have benefited from their hosts’ lack of potency. Kieran Richardson, having seemingly defied the laws of physics when his first-half free kick somehow struck the woodwork three times and failed to cross the line, then had a second-half effort ruled out, from a beautifully delivered free kick, because teammate Pascal Chimbonda, standing in the Fulham wall, was adjudged to have committed a foul.

Sunderland manager Roy Keane said: “Slightly aggrieved? Yes, I’d say that is a posh way of putting it,” before adding with a grin: “Though I’m not going to start swearing like Joe Kinnear.”

After a sprightly start from Sunderland, Fulham dominated much of the first half. Zoltan Gera rounded Craig Gordon but his effort was blocked by Chimbonda on the line.

Then Andy Johnson’s lay-back from the left was an open invitation to Gera but he horribly miskicked in front of goal. The same player curled another chance high over the bar and had a header saved by Gordon.

The Black Cats had their moments. A Djibril Cisse drive was just wide of the far post, then a bicycle kick from Michael Chopra was wide.

Just before the break, Richardson’s 30-yard free kick cannoned off the inside of Mark Schwarzer’s left post, rebounded off the inside of the other, then struck the left post again before being gathered by the grateful goalkeeper. Sunderland fans and players had begun celebrating, convinced the ball must, at some stage, have crossed the line. But it hadn’t.

After the interval Dean Whitehead and Richardson went close before the latter found the net with that stunning free kick — only to be frustrated by the referee’s intervention.

Sunderland may have lived to rue the referee’s decision even more. Gordon twice saved well from Jimmy Bullard, while Simon Davies was also close to a winner. That would have been an injustice that may possibly have stirred the thoroughly reasonable Sunderland manager.

Star man: Kieran Richardson (Sunderland)

Referee: K Stroud

Attendance: 25,116

FULHAM: Schwarzer 7, Pantsil 6, Hughes 7, Hangeland 7, Konchesky 6, Davies 7, Murphy 6, Bullard 7, Gera 5 (Dempsey 72min), Zamora 5, Johnson 6

SUNDERLAND: Gordon 7, Chimbonda 6, Ferdinand 7, Collins 6, McCartney 6, Malbranque 6, Leadbitter 6 (Reid 62min), Whitehead 7, Richardson 8, Cisse 6 (Murphy 83min), Chopra 5 (Healy 69min)