Both sides were restricted to half-chances in the first 45 minutes, none of which were taken, so the game was goalless at the interval.
Niall Quinn broke the deadlock in the 54th minute when he controlled Alex Rae`s cross well, inside the box, before swivelling to fire a volley past Neil Sullivan and into the corner of the net.
A typically industrious Dons side got themselves back into the match on 73 minutes when Michael Hughes grabbed an equaliser.
The Northern Ireland international`s fairly weak shot took a wicked deflection to leave Sunderland goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen with no chance.
The Black Cats were not to be denied, though, and took the lead ten minutes later when Kevin Kilbane scored his first goal for the club, after latching onto a Quinn header, to push them up to sixth place in the Premiership.
