Sunderland manager Melanie Reay hailed the point collected from yesterday’s 1-1 North East derby draw with Durham as a valuable one.
Saoirse Noonan headed Durham into an early lead at Maiden Castle before Brianna Westrup netted an equaliser for Sunderland just minutes later. That was how it remained as the two A690 rivals cancelled each other out on the opening day of the new Barclays Women’s Championship season.
When speaking to FAWSL Full-Time after the match, Reay declared herself more than happy with the point.
“It’s obviously a hard place to come and we were disappointed with the results last year,” Reay said.
“To open up the campaign with a point on the road….it’s obviously a very valuable point.”
Sunderland’s performance at Maiden Castle wasn’t just about resolute defending. The Lady Black Cats looked dangerous on the attack, particularly in the wide areas. Reay went on to say that she was pleased with what her side offered in attack, although Sunderland need to become a bit more clinical in front of goal.
She said “We’ve got to be a little bit more clinical in front of goal with the chances that we had in the first half. We had lots of chances in the first half but didn’t take them then it gets a little bit nervy in the second half and it could go either way.
“I’d like to think we’ve got a little bit more pace in the team this year and we certainly utilised that in the first half.”
Sunderland’s next fixture in the Barclays Women’s Championship is against Birmingham City at The Stadium of Light on Saturday.
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