The most surprising thing about the beach-ball debacle at the Stadium of Light, was not Darren Bent’s ricocheted shot that gave Sunderland an upset 1-0 win over Liverpool nor was it the referee’s decision to allow the goal.

Where was the fun police?

More often at sporting events, security is very quick to pounce on such pitch invasions. They will stomp on the offending “balloon”, tear at it, sit on it, pop it just to deflate the fans’ fun and games.

What were the yellow shirts doing at the gate? How could they allow such paraphernalia into the stadium? And who was snoozing on the job when the ball first entered the field?

The one certain outcome from this controversy will be heightened security at Anfield. Reds fans will happily go along with the beefed up checks, bag rummages and likely strip searches to ensure that this calamity doesn’t happen again.

And what about the “supporter in dark blue sweatshirt”, who was the culprit of the freakish winner? His photo, courtesy of YouTube, will be at every gate with the instructions to deny entry.

He’s going to be a popular lad at school this week … unless of course he is an Everton fan or has moved to, well, there’s nowhere to hide – there are a lot of Liverpool fans worldwide … maybe Idiotville, Oregon?

The merchandisers will rue the bright idea to sell Liverpool beach sets with offending beach ball. Better suited for summer days on Brighton Beach, Reds fans would never have imagined the consequences the silly blow-up toy would cause.

Marketers will cash in on the increased sales of Liverpool beach sets, mostly snapped up by Toffees and Black Cats supporters, but a third straight defeat for the Premier League powerhouses has likely cost them any shot at the title.

In all seriousness, the goal should stand. Had the officials foreseen the interference – not hard to miss – and stopped play to remove the beach ball, the game would have been restarted with a drop ball. But play on … it’s a goal.

I just wonder if Bent called it.