Victory at Stevenage's Lamex Stadium would have lifted us above the visitors and Manchester United and out of the drop zone altogether in the last outing of the year for Wayne Burnett's side.
But for all the graft of Luke Amos and impressive passing of Oliver Skipp in central midfield to feed the front three, we only managed the odd glimpse of Max Stryjek's goal.
Our best chance arrived 14 minutes from time when Anthony Georgiou raced in behind his full-back and through on goal down our left but was denied by a double save from the Sunderland custodian.