​Gary Owers had impressed pretty much everyone who’d watched him come through the ranks at Sunderland over the past four years. The youth team product had been thrown into the first team when Denis Smith arrived at the club in 1987, and had established himself as a regular as the lads made the journey from Division Three to the top flight – and, unfortunately, back down to Division Two, courtesy of a last-day Niall Quinn and Peter Reid inflicted relegation at Maine Road. While Owers, who usually played an attacking midfield role, either from the right or centrally, had scored 9 goals as Sunderland went up in 1989/90, he’d struggled for goals in the top flight – netting only once in the league. He wasn’t alone in his struggle, however. Sunderland had scored just 38 goals all season – the second only to also-relegated Derby, who’d netted 37. As fate would have it, Sunderland – who were the bookies’ favourites for promotion – opened the season up with a 1-1 draw at Roker with the Rams, Gordon Armstrong equalising in the second half, a mere minute after Mick Harford’s obligatory goal against us. Owers, now 22, was being tipped as a future full international. He was regularly linked with the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United, and as his attention turned to getting Sunderland back up to what was soon to be the Premier League, he knew he needed to get back amongst the goals. I am confident that I will score more goals this season. I managed only one in the league last season, but in my last year in the Second Division I scored nine.I am looking for double figures this time and if Gordon (Armstrong) can also chip in with goals from midfield, it will show that we mean business.Sunderland were following up that opening day Derby fixture with a game against Barnsley at Oakwell, on this day 35 years ago, and Owers knew the club’s form needed to improve. We can do a lot better than we did on Saturday. We have got to get a win under our belts and I think there will be a lot more go tonight.We have got to try and repeat the away form of two seasons ago, but realistically we should win a lot more than the two we managed last season in the First Division.Last season our performances away from home were encouraging and without being disrespectful to clubs in the Second Division, I think we have learned our lesson.Defending was the problem. If we took the lead, we gave away daft goals. It was an all-round defending problem and not down to any particular individual.As it was, Sunderland – wearing the white away kit with speckled sleeves, which was an unpopular launch at the time but grew to be much loved – swatted Mel Machin’s Tykes to one side. And it was Owers who opened the scoring on 18 minutes – and in spectacular style, too. Paul Hardyman’s floated free kick was won in the air by Thomas Hauser, who followed up to win the ball a second time. The ball fell towards Owers, who scored with a superb overhead kick. One nil