Disappointment? Certainly.
Failure? Not a bit of it.
Emotions were running high when the final whistle went at Kenilworth Road, as Sunderland saw their hopes of reaching the Championship play-off final at Wembley killed off in brutal fashion. The 2-1 lead they had carefully carved out in the semi-final first leg against Luton Town on Wearside was scrubbed out inside ten minutes from the Hatters' very first corner as Gabe Osho poked home from close range.
And by half-time the tie had been turned on its head, with another corner leading to the hosts' all-important second goal headed in by Tom Lockyer. As a sizeable contingent of Luton fans ignored the pleas of the stadium announcer to stay off the pitch at full-time, all the Sunderland fans penned in the corner could do was watch as their opponents celebrated.
READ MORE: Tony Mowbray makes 'we'll be back stronger' vow after Sunderland's play-off defeat at Luton Town
But while there was naturally disappointment amongst Sunderland supporters at missing out on a trip to Wembley and the chance of promotion, there was none of the sense of failure that had accompanied Sunderland recent play-off pratfalls in League One. This was not Charlton in the final in 2019. Nor was it the semi-final against Lincoln in 2021.
On both those occasions, Sunderland expected to be promoted and the play-offs were seen as a 'second chance' after missing out on an automatic slot. This time around, promotion and the play-offs were just a pipe-dream at the start of the season - no-one seriously expected Sunderland to finish in the top six in their first season back in the Championship, after finally scrambling out of the third tier 12 months ago.
So instead, the overwhelming emotion in the aftermath at Luton was a sense of pride in what this young, inexperienced, exciting, team had achieved under Tony Mowbray over the course of the season. The way the core group had handled the step up; the coming of age of academy graduates such as Anthony Patterson and Dan Neil; the extra quality players such as Jack Clarke, Edouard Michut, Pierre Ekwah, Dan Ballard, and loan star Amad had brought; the silky attacking football that had become the team's hallmark; the way they had refused to allow a devastating catalogue of injuries to derail their campaign.
There were so many positives to come out of the season that Mowbray's post-match claim that Sunderland would be back next season, stronger than before, felt like a solemn promise rather than an attempt to draw a line under a defeat. And what of that defeat?
At the Stadium of Light on Saturday in the first leg, Luton had been taught a harsh lesson by a Sunderland team that played to its strengths and ran rings around them with skill and technique. There was no chance Luton would make the same mistake and allow themselves to be sucked into a football match second time around.
This time it was Sunderland's turn to be schooled at Kenilworth Road - in the art of aerial bombardment, at any rate. It wasn't nice, it wasn't pretty, and you wouldn't want to buy a season ticket to watch it - but it was certainly effective, and Sunderland's diminutive team had no answer.
To talk of aerial bombardment is not to disparage Luton's achievement, incidentally. As Mowbray has pointed out on several occasions this season, there is more than one way to win a match.
But the clash of styles and of footballing philosophies was stark. He warned beforehand that Luton would likely double-down on their physical approach in the return game, and he was proved right.
Every set-piece should have been accompanied by a siren and flashing warning lights, and only goalline clearances from Trai Hume and Luke O'Nien in the first half - and woeful finishing from Jordan Clark and Cody Drammeh in the second - prevented Luton scoring further goals. Had Sunderland been able to call upon physically imposing centre-backs such as the injured Danny Batth and Ballard, the outcome might have been very different.
Even the introduction of one 6ft-plus defender Aji Alese for the final half-hour, making his return after two months on the sidelines, had an effect and allowed Sunderland to better withstand the assault. Sunderland might point to a strong penalty claim for handball against Amar'i Bell when he kept out an Ekwah shot just after Luton had gone in front as a potential turning point, but their appeals fell upon deaf ears.
Instead, Luton became only the second team to keep a clean sheet against Sunderland since November - the other being Burnley. Ultimately it is Luton who are heading to Wembley for the play-off final on Saturday week and good luck to them, for theirs is a fairytale rise from the fifth tier to the brink of the top flight in the space of ten seasons.
Sunderland's return to the Premier League will have to wait a little longer.
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